Gérard Depardieu stands trial for alleged sexual assaults
PARIS
French actor Gerard Depardieu went on trial at a Paris court on March 24 charged with sexually assaulting two women during a 2021 film shoot, as his lawyer vowed to show all the accusations were "false."
Depardieu, 76, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behavior by around 20 women but this is the first case to come to trial.
He is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in French cinema's response to the #MeToo movement.
Depardieu, dressed in a dark suit with no tie, sat on a stool facing the court as the trial got underway in the early afternoon.
He slowly made his way to the witness stand, wincing as he walked, to confirm his identity. The two plaintiffs were also present in the courtroom.
The trial relates to charges of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" (The Green Shutters) by director Jean Becker.
Anouk Grinberg, a prominent actor who appeared in the film, has backed the two plaintiffs -- a set dresser, 54, and a 34-year-old assistant director. Both women allege sexual violence.
Grinberg said that Depardieu had constantly made "salacious remarks" during shooting, and told AFP that producers who hired him knew they were "hiring an abuser."
Depardieu's lawyer, Jeremie Assous, told AFP just before the hearing started that he would show "in an impartial, objective and undeniable manner that all the accusations are false".
Feminist activists protested outside the courtroom before the trial started.
The defendant's younger daughter, Roxane Depardieu, and her mother, Depardieu's ex-partner Karine Silla, as well as actor Fanny Ardant were among the film star's supporters inside the courtroom.
Ardant then left the room after the defense team cited her as a witness.
The trial, initially scheduled to take place in October 2024, had been postponed due to the actor's ill health.
Assous said back then that Depardieu had undergone a heart bypass operation and suffered from diabetes that was aggravated by the stress of the forthcoming trial.
According to Assous, Depardieu's court appearances will be limited to six hours a day and he will take breaks whenever he "needs."
