Gérard Depardieu Charged With Rape and Sexual Assault - The Cut

Gérard Depardieu Photo: Eric Fougere - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

French actor Gérard Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault for incidents that allegedly took place more than two years ago, the Agence France-Presse reports. According to a “judicial source,” the charges were filed in December but have only now hit the news cycle.

They apparently stem from a complaint that a then-22-year-old actress and dancer filed with authorities in Lambesc in 2018. They passed the case to police in Paris, where Depardieu has a home and where the alleged assaults are said to have taken place. At the time, Le Parisien reported that the young woman’s father was a friend of Depardieu’s and that the actor had been giving her career advice. She says she was at his residence to rehearse a scene from a play on August 7 and August 13, 2018, when he allegedly forced himself on her.

At the time, Depardieu’s lawyer, Hervé Temime, said his client “absolutely denies having committed even the smallest offense or having behaved criminally in the slightest,” and in 2019, police dropped their investigation, concluding they lacked sufficient evidence to bring charges. But the woman refiled, triggering a new investigation in 2020, the Guardian notes. Charges followed late last year. The woman’s identity has not been disclosed, and her attorney, Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, told the AFP that she hopes her “private sphere will be respected.”

Meanwhile, Depardieu — who is still a huge star in France — remains free under judicial supervision. Temime told the AFP that Depardieu “completely rejects the accusations.”