Movie legend to face trial in Paris for alleged sexual assault of two girls throughout a 2021 movie shoot.
French movie legend Gerard Depardieu is about to go on trial in Paris on Monday for accusations of sexually assaulting two girls throughout a movie shoot in 2021.
Depardieu, 76, who has made greater than 200 movies and tv sequence, has been accused of improper behaviour by about 20 girls however that is the primary case to return to trial which can start Monday. He has persistently denied any wrongdoing.
Depardieu’s lawyer, Jeremie Assous, stated on Friday that the case was based mostly on “false accusations” towards his consumer, including that the film star was anticipated to attend the two-day trial after an preliminary listening to was postponed attributable to his unwell well being.
Prosecutors say the assaults occurred throughout the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Inexperienced Shutters).
They accuse Depardieu of groping one of many girls on the movie set, pulling her in direction of him and trapping her along with his legs earlier than touching her waist, hips and breasts whereas saying obscene phrases. Three folks witnessed the scene, prosecutors say.
They are saying the second lady was groped by Depardieu on set and on the street. The ladies’s identities haven’t been revealed.
The alleged assaults occurred whereas Depardieu was below formal investigation over accusations of raping a younger actress in 2018. A trial has been requested by prosecutors within the case.
Depardieu’s trial could possibly be the best profile #MeToo case to return earlier than the courts in France, the place the protest motion over sexual violence has struggled to realize the identical traction as in america.
In February, a French court docket discovered movie director Christophe Ruggia responsible of sexually abusing actress Adele Haenel when she was underage.
French director and actress Judith Godreche, who like Haenel has turn into a serious voice in France’s #MeToo motion, stated these trials confirmed some progress.
“One of many nice issues that’s taking place is that girls who’re speaking towards very highly effective males are principally not thought of loopy any extra,” she advised the Reuters information company over the cellphone.
Nevertheless, Godreche stated it’s nonetheless unusual for males to talk up within the French cinema trade.
