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 Green Card star is at the moment being tried on two separate expenses of sexual assault associated to occasions alleged to have taken place on the set of Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters.
“At 76, I am passed the age of groping,” he informed the Paris courtroom after listening to the testimony of a set director named merely as Amélie, one in all 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 house 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 when I understood that he had a lot of strength. I was destabilised. I felt held down. I had this big face in front of me, with very angry red eyes, saying to me: ‘Come touch my big 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 urged she lodge a grievance, however Amélie mentioned she had hesitated earlier than happening that route.
It was solely after seeing a version of France Télevision’s investigative present Complément d’Enquête in 2023, probing historic accusations towards the actor that she had determined to go to the police.
Depardieu denied his intentions had been sexual, telling the courtroom quite 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 “avoid speaking 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 referred to as in for questioning.
The trial comes amid at the very least 20 public allegations of sexually inappropriate conduct towards Depardieu, which have destroyed his popularity as one in all 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 think this affair had been completely instrumentalised by the media,” he mentioned, noting how the daughter of actress Fanny Ardant had been attacked for her mom’s public help of him.
He additionally took purpose on the feminist activists who’ve protested about his seeming impunity within the face of a rising checklist of sexual assault accusations towards him.
“When I was in Marseille with those banners saying ‘Depardieu rapist’, the words about me on TV, ‘his big, disgusting rapist fingers’, those aren’t women,” he informed the courtroom happening to quote a phrase from 18th Century lady of letters Madame de Staël.
“They would do well to meditate on Madame de Staël: ‘For women, fame is but the dazzling mourning of happiness’,” he mentioned on her reflection that it’s tough 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) high-quality.
Originally scheduled to run March 24 and 25, the trial has been prolonged into tomorrow.