Gérard Depardieu denied accusations of sexually assaulting a set dresser on a 2021 movie shoot in a Paris courtroom listening to on Tuesday however acknowledged for the primary time that he he had grabbed her by the hips.
The Oscar-nominated Cyrano de Bergerac and Inexperienced Card star is at the moment being tried on two separate prices of sexual assault associated to occasions alleged to have taken place on the set of Jean Becker’s The Inexperienced Shutters.
“At 76, I’m handed the age of groping,” he advised the Paris courtroom after listening to the testimony of a set director named merely as Amélie, one among two plaintiffs – alongside an assistant director – testifying within the trial.
Amélie recounted how she had discovered herself in the identical house as Depardieu whereas dressing a scene in an residence the place the shoot was happening.
She mentioned he had gestured to her to return nearer, as if he needed to say one thing, after which when she approached him, closed his legs round her and grabbed her hips.
“That’s once I understood that he had numerous energy. I used to be destabilised. I felt held down. I had this huge face in entrance of me, with very indignant pink eyes, saying to me: ‘Come contact my huge parasol, I’m going to shove it up your pussy’,” she mentioned, including her had then kneaded her as much as his breasts.
Crew members who witnessed the incident advised she lodge a grievance, however Amélie mentioned she had hesitated earlier than taking place that route.
It was solely after seeing a version of France Télevision’s investigative present Complément d’Enquête in 2023, probing historic accusations in opposition to the actor that she had determined to go to the police.
Depardieu denied his intentions had been sexual, telling the courtroom reasonably that he had been making an attempt to cease himself sliding on his seat – a dice he takes with him on set – whereas the act of pulling her shut had been to “keep away from talking too loudly.”
Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer for Amélie, rebutted Depardieu account, noting it was his third model of occasions, having initially denied even touching the plaintiff when he was first known as in for questioning.
The trial comes amid not less than 20 public allegations of sexually inappropriate habits in opposition to Depardieu, which have destroyed his fame as one among France’s most celebrated actors.
Depardieu alluded to this in Tuesday’s listening to, complaining how he had not labored for greater than three years.
“I believe this affair had been fully instrumentalised by the media,” he mentioned, noting how the daughter of actress Fanny Ardant had been attacked for her mom’s public assist of him.
He additionally took intention on the feminist activists who’ve protested about his seeming impunity within the face of a rising checklist of sexual assault accusations in opposition to him.
“Once I was in Marseille with these banners saying ‘Depardieu rapist’, the phrases about me on TV, ‘his huge, disgusting rapist fingers’, these aren’t girls,” he advised the courtroom happening to quote a phrase from 18th Century girl of letters Madame de Staël.
“They might do effectively to meditate on Madame de Staël: ‘For ladies, fame is however the dazzling mourning of happiness’,” he mentioned on her reflection that it’s troublesome for girls to have each worldly success and happiness.
If discovered responsible, Depardieu may face a sentence of as much as 5 years in jail and a 75,000-euro ($81,000) wonderful.
Initially scheduled to run March 24 and 25, the trial has been prolonged into tomorrow.
