Gerard Depardieu asks for postponement of sexual assault trial, citing health

Gerard Depardieu has asked for a postponement of his sexual abuse trial, which is due to start in Paris on Monday, due to health reasons.

According to French news agency AFP, Depardieu’s lawyer Jeremy Assous told FranceInfo that the actor “is extremely affected and that his doctors have unfortunately banned him from attending the hearing.”

Assous continued that Depardieu “will request a postponement to a later date so that he can attend.” His trial was due to start on Monday at 1.30pm Paris time.

Depardieu’s lawyer did not immediately respond Variety‘s request for further comment.

Depardieu is being tried on two alleged sexual assault charges, dating back to the filming of Jean Becker’s “The Green Shutters” (“Les volets verts”) in southern France in August and September 2021. He was taken into police custody earlier this year. year on April 29 and was summoned to appear in criminal court on Monday. Under the charges, Depardieu – long considered a mascot of French film history and starring in more than 150 films, including classics like Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” – faces five years in prison and a €75,000 fine.

In a letter sent to the public prosecutor on February 23, Amelie K., who worked as a set designer on ‘The Green Shutters’, accused Depardieu of sexually assaulting and harassing her on September 10, 2021 during filming. Amelie K said she heard Depardieu make several rude comments, and claims that one day, as she walked past him while he was sitting in a hallway, he grabbed her, pulled her towards him, blocked her with his legs and kneading her waist, hips and hips. chest, while making obscene comments.

She added that she was helped by two colleagues as 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 unkind comments about her throughout the rest of the shoot.

“The complainant explained that it had taken some time before she decided to file a complaint, but that she was shocked to hear on television that no incident had ever occurred during the filming. She added that she was not the only one who was sexually abused,” a spokesperson for the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement obtained by Variety.

A second woman, Engela W., who worked as Becker’s assistant on “The Green Shutters,” accused Depardieu of sexually assaulting her on August 31. She filed a complaint on March 21 this year, reporting that Depardieu had touched her buttocks. on the street, a few days later on location she touched her breasts and on another occasion she touched her buttocks again. After expressing her refusal to be touched, she added that Depardieu began insulting her. She reported the incident to her family the same day.

Variety has contacted Depardieu’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, for comment on the outcome of the trial. Depardieu has previously denied all allegations. In a statement sent to Variety Before the trial, Assous said, “the witnesses and evidence he will present will show that he is merely the target of false accusations.” Assous also claimed that the “true intention has just been revealed through the civil parties’ damages claims: financial gain, ranging from €6,000 to €30,000.”

As part of a separate case, the 75-year-old famous French actor has been indicted since December 16, 2020 on 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 took place on August 7 and 13, 2018. The examining magistrate has now to decide what direction to give to the procedure.

Another sexual abuse complaint filed last year by actor Helene Darras, who accused Depardieu of groping her and propositioning her during a 2007 film shoot, has since been dropped because the statute of limitations had expired.

In April last year, thirteen women accused the actor of sexually inappropriate behavior in a report published by French investigative news website Médiapart. Depardieu vehemently denied all allegations and wrote a letter for Le Figaro newspaper in October stating: “I have never abused a woman.”

After Depardieu, who continued to take on roles until 2022, sparked a turning point for the #MeToo movement in France, he almost saw his career end. It seems that in recent years he has only starred in a small Italian horror film called ‘Twins’, which is in post-production.