Gerard Depardieu has asked for a postponement to his sexual assault trial that is set to begin in Paris on Monday, citing health reasons.
According to the French news agency AFP, Depardieu’s lawyer Jeremie Assous told FranceInfo that the actor is “extremely affected and unfortunately his doctors have forbidden him from being present at the hearing.”
Assous continued that Depardieu “will ask for a postponement to a later date so that he can attend.” His trial was set to begin at 1:30 p.m. Paris time on Monday.
Depardieu’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for further comment.
Depardieu is being tried on two alleged sexual assaults, which date back to the filming of Jean Becker’s “The Green Shutters” (“Les volets verts”) in the South of France in August and September 2021. He was taken into police custody earlier this year on April 29 and was summoned to appear before the criminal court on Monday. Based on the charges, Depardieu — long considered a mascot of France’s cinematic history who has starred in over 150 films, including classics such as Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” — risks five years of imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.
In a letter sent to the prosecutor on Feb. 23, Amelie K., who worked as a set decorator on “The Green Shutters,” accused Depardieu of having sexually assaulted and harassed her on Sept. 10, 2021, during filming. Amelie K said she overheard Depardieu make several crude comments, and alleges that one day, as she walked past him sitting in a corridor, he grabbed her, pulled her toward him, blocked her with his legs and kneaded her on the waist, hips and chest, while making obscene comments.
She added that she was helped by two colleagues while Depardieu left the scene accompanied by his bodyguards. After reporting the incident to the production manager, Depardieu was asked to apologize to her but instead made unfriendly remarks about her during the rest of the shoot.
“The plaintiff explained that it had taken her some time to decide to lodge a complaint, but that she had been shocked to hear on television that there had never been any incident during the filming. She added that she was not the only one to have been sexually assaulted,” said a spokesperson for the Paris Prosecutor’s Office in a statement obtained by Variety.
A second woman, Engela W., who was working as Becker’s assistant on “The Green Shutters,” accused Depardieu of sexually assaulting her on Aug. 31. She lodged a complaint on March 21 of this year and reported that Depardieu had touched her buttocks in the street, then touched her breasts a few days later on location and touched her buttocks again on another occasion. Having expressed her refusal to be touched, she added that Depardieu had started being insulting toward her. She reported the incident to her family the same day.
Variety has contacted Depardieu’s attorney, Jérémie Assous, for comment on the trial’s outcome. Depardieu has previously denied all charges. In a statement sent to Variety ahead of the trial, Assous said, “the witnesses and evidence he will present will demonstrate that he is merely the target of false accusations.” Assous also claimed that the “true intent has just been revealed through the civil parties’ compensation demands: to gain financially, ranging from €6,000 to €30,000.”
As part of a separate case, the 75-year-old famous French actor has been, since Dec. 16, 2020, indicted over allegations of rape and sexual assault filed by actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018.
In August, the Paris public prosecutor’s office requested in a final indictment that Depardieu be referred to the departmental criminal court to stand trial for rape by digital penetration and sexual assault that allegedly occurred on Aug. 7 and 13, 2018. The examining magistrate now has to decide what direction to give to the proceedings.
Another sexual assault complaint filed last year by actor Helene Darras, who accused Depardieu of groping and propositioning her during a 2007 film shoot, has since been dropped for being past the statute of limitations.
In April of last year, 13 women accused the actor of sexually inappropriate behavior in a report published by French investigative news website Médiapart. Depardieu vehemently denied all the accusations, and in October penned a letter for the newspaper Le Figaro in which he stated, “Never ever have I abused a woman.”
Having triggered a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement in France, Depardieu, who up until 2022 was still lining up roles, has seen his career come to a near end. In the last couple years, he appears to have only acted in a small Italian horror film called “Twins,” which is in post-production.
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