When the actor Gérard Depardieu took the stand at his sexual assault trial in Paris this week, it was seen as a turning point for the #MeToo movement in France.
As a parliamentary commission examines why the French film industry has been slow – even resistant – to take women’s claims of abuse seriously, Depardieu, the nation’s biggest film star, faced accusations that he trapped a set decorator between his legs and sexually assaulted her while shooting the film Les Volets verts (The Green Shutters) in 2021. He is also accused of touching the breasts and buttocks of an assistant director on the same film on three separate occasions. Depardieu, 76, has denied all the charges, telling the court he had been “dragged through the mud by calumny and lies”.
The women’s lawyers told the court he was an “all-powerful” star who deliberately targeted junior women, who were in fear of being blacklisted if they spoke out. The court heard there was a “system of impunity” around Depardieu, with film industry insiders staying silent to keep cashing in on his name.
“Everyone knew,” said a 30-year-old actor, who was called as a witness. She said that during her first role, aged 20, in the Netflix series Marseille, Depardieu had suddenly put his hand inside her shorts and underwear, against her skin. She pushed him away and he did it again. When she protested, he said: “What? I thought you wanted to succeed in cinema …”
Another witness, a journalist, told the court that on a TV set in 2007, Depardieu made crude comments about how she must want “men in leather” and suddenly began kneading her back “while grunting”, moving his hands across her body towards her knickers. She said the male crew on set laughed.
A further witness, a costume designer, told the court that on a 2014 film set, while she was adjusting a cape Depardieu was wearing, he “shoved me behind curtains, put his hands on my knickers, my tights, my groin, my breasts …” She said he had told her: “You know who I am. Let it happen. I’m an actor, I’ve got the right.” She told the court that when she protested, he grumbled: “Well, if I can no longer touch breasts …” When senior production members were informed, they decided not to make a fuss for a “little costume girl”, she said.
The state prosecutor Laurent Guy said Depardieu should be convicted as the evidence was clear. The actor’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, said the women were lying and part of a conspiracy to “bring down” a great man. “Today, being charged with sexual assault has an atomic effect; it neutralises you, kills you socially,” Assous said.
Depardieu has always described himself as having one of the most powerful rags to riches stories in France. Born into a poor family, he left school at 13 and was involved in petty theft and crime as a teenager before finding national hero status with roles including Cyrano de Bergerac.
But in 2013, after a row with the French government over high taxes, Vladimir Putin, an acquaintance of Depardieu, gave him Russian citizenship, and in court, Depardieu said: “I have Russian nationality because I adore the Russian spirit. It’s often been said that I have a Russian nature. I don’t know if it’s linked to my crudeness. As a matter of fact, in Russia, people aren’t crude.” In 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine, Depardieu criticised Putin over “crazy, unacceptable excesses”.
Depardieu repeatedly spoke at the trial of a clash of two worlds. He said in the “old world” it was fine – even funny and relaxing – to say crude and vulgar things. He admitted shouting words such as “Dick! Pussy!” on set, saying that maybe he did also say “It’s so hot in here I can’t even get an erection”, during filming in 2021. It was, he told the court, simply “like saying ‘wee wee poo poo’ for a child”. But in the “new world” people could get offended, he said.
He referred to the assistant director who accused him of sexual assault as “fragile”. He said he preferred male staff to collect him from his dressing room as young women could take offence at his language. “Given the crude words of the old world that make people laugh, I avoid the new world hearing them so I don’t become detestable,” he told the court. One film crew member said Depardieu had a “ritual” of shouting obscenities before a take, and that when a young sound engineer had brought him a microphone, he had called her a “slut”.
Depardieu told the court he loved women, said they should be able to speak out, but also said of the #MeToo movement: “This movement is going to become a terror.” Addressing the head judge, he brought up Roman Polanski and defended him. The Polish-born director fled the US decades ago after admitting to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old.
With protesters outside court holding banners saying “No to rape culture”, there was a tense mood in the courtroom.
Claude Vincent, the lawyer for the assistant director who accused Depardieu of sexual assault, said there had been sexism in court. She said Depardieu had suggested her voice was too shrill, and his defence lawyer had called the female lawyers “stupid” and “despicable”. Assous said he was simply defending his client.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested a further trial for rape and sexual assault in a separate case brought by the actor Charlotte Arnould, but no date has been set.
Depardieu, who complained he had not worked for three years, clearly intended to resume acting. He told the judges that attending court had been very useful, especially watching the legal teams. “I can imitate them one day if I play a lawyer,” he said.
The verdict will be announced on 13 May.
Source: theguardian.com
