The sexual abuse trial of French film legend Gerard Depardieu begins without him

PARIS – The trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu on sexual assault charges began on October 28 in the absence of the celebrity, who declared himself ill.

His lawyer, Mr Jeremy Assous, had previously said Depardieu, 75, had been “extremely affected” by ill health, and had asked for the proceedings to be postponed until he could attend in person.

“Unfortunately, his doctors have forbidden him to appear here today,” the lawyer said upon arrival for the trial.

He said he would ask the court to suspend the trial for six months, after numerous other complaints had been filed and a possible second trial was already looming.

The actor is the most prominent figure to face accusations in the French film version of the #MeToo movement, which was sparked in 2017 by allegations against American producer Harvey Weinstein.

Depardieu is accused of abuse that allegedly took place during a 2021 film shoot. The names of the two women who accuse him have not been made public.

One of the claimants, a permanent tailor who is now 55 years old, reported this in February she had faced sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults during the filming of director Jean Becker’s “Les Volet Verts” (The Green Shutters) in a private home in Paris.

“I expect that the legal system will be the same for everyone and that Mr. Depardieu will not receive special treatment just because he is an artist,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Ms. Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, told AFP.

Mr Assous said Depardieu’s defense would provide “witnesses and evidence showing that he is simply the target of false accusations”.

He accused the plaintiff of trying to “make money” by seeking €30,000 (S$42,000) in damages.

The prosecutor told French investigative website Mediapart that Depardieu had started shouting loudly for a cooling fan during the filming because he “couldn’t even get it up” in the heat.

She claimed the actor then bragged that he could “give women an orgasm without touching them”.

The accuser claimed that an hour later she was “brutally grabbed” by Depardieu as she walked off the set.

The actor pinned her down by “closing his legs” around her before groping her waist and stomach, down to her breasts, she added.

Depardieu made “obscene comments” during the incident, she said, including: “Come and touch my big parasol. I’ll stick it in your pussy.”

She described how the actor’s bodyguards dragged him away as he shouted: “We meet again, my love.”

“My client expects that the justice system will regard Gerard Depardieu as a serial killer,” Durrieu-Diebolt said.