UPDATED with test and appointment details: French actor Gérard Depardieu will stand trial in October for sexual assaults against two women on the set of the film The green shutters in 2021, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
The announcement came after Depardieu was taken into police custody on Monday morning for questioning over allegations of sexual assault.
“At the end of his police custody in the 3rd Criminal Police District, Gérard Depardieu received a summons to appear before the criminal court… for sexual assaults probably committed in September 2021 on the set of the film against two victims The green shutters“, says a statement from the public prosecutor’s office.
According to local media reports, the actor was questioned over allegations related to events on the set of Jean-Pierre Mocky The Magician and the Siamese in 2014 and Jean Beckers The green shutters (Volets Verts) in 2021.
The Paris prosecutor said the October trial would focus on two separate allegations related to the shooting of The green shutters. There was no mention of any allegations related to the 2014 shooting.
Depardieu’s lawyer Christian Saint-Palais speaks to the press (AFP via Getty Images)
ANTONIN UTZ/AFP via Getty Images
Early in the evening, Depardieu’s lawyer Christian Saint-Palais confirmed that his client had spent the day at the police station and had arrived there on his own after being summoned.
He said the questioning was a routine part of the trial and that Depardieu had denied the allegations.
“When a person is implicated, there inevitably comes a time when they have to explain themselves. And so today was one of those days when he had to explain the allegations made against him and which he denied,” he told the press gathered outside the police station.
He did not say whether Depardieu would return for further questioning.
Depardieu is already facing an official lawsuit over two rapes by actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018, which is currently before the courts.
In an open letter published in the newspaper Le Figaro last October, the actor vehemently denied the rape allegations and mounting allegations of sexual assault against him, suggesting that his actions had been misinterpreted.
The letter came as allegations against him mounted.
In April 2023, 13 women accused the actor of sexually inappropriate behavior in a detailed report by French investigative news website Médiapart.
Two months after the open letter, Depardieu came under renewed public criticism in France after a bombshell investigative program aired on December 7th Further researchthat investigated these historic allegations as well as other inappropriate behavior.
Deadline has asked Depardieu’s lawyer Beatrice Geissmann Achille for comment on the allegations against the actor and his imprisonment, but has not yet received a response.
Depardieu’s case has divided the French cinema world, with 50 French entertainment personalities publishing an open letter in December in support of the actor and saying they were against the “lynching” and removal of the actor.
French President Emmanuel Macron also defended Depardieu, saying he was a great admirer of the actor and suggesting he was being subjected to a witch hunt.
The open letter and Macron’s comments were met with an open counter-letter signed by 600 figures from the French arts and entertainment world, which said they were a slap in the face to all victims of sexual violence.