{"id":29356,"date":"2025-05-13T06:19:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T10:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=29356"},"modified":"2025-05-13T06:19:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T10:19:27","slug":"gerard-depardieu-found-guilty-in-sexual-assault-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/05\/13\/gerard-depardieu-found-guilty-in-sexual-assault-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"G\u00e9rard Depardieu found guilty in sexual assault trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-1w03aro-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">French film star G\u00e9rard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexual assaulting two women on a film set at a trial in Paris and given a suspended jail term of 18 months.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 76-year-old actor was accused by the two women of groping them during work on a film in 2021. Depardieu had denied the allegations against him and his lawyer said he would appeal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The court in Paris found that one of the women, a set designer named Am\u00e9lie, had given consistent evidence while the actor&#8217;s accounts had changed over time. She told reporters afterwards she was &#8220;very moved&#8221; and satisfied with the verdict, which for her was &#8220;a victory, a major step forward&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Depardieu has also been convicted of assaulting an assistant director, called Sarah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-12l5xzx-LinksComponentWrapper e3eyuya0\" data-component=\"links-block\">\n<section class=\"ssrcss-msolhr-LinksWrapper e3eyuya5\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-1y914pf-InContentLinksGrid e3eyuya3\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-r2yl4r-PromoItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1t3sjik-Promo e1vyq2e80\" data-testid=\"promo\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-oxzfb3-PromoCompact e18gnqux0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1d68cot-PromoContent exn3ah912\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1f3bvyz-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1sen9vx-PromoHeadline exn3ah99\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cly345lpdgeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">G\u00e9rard Depardieu denies allegations of sexual assault at combative trial<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-r2yl4r-PromoItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1t3sjik-Promo e1vyq2e80\" data-testid=\"promo\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-oxzfb3-PromoCompact e18gnqux0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1d68cot-PromoContent exn3ah912\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1f3bvyz-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1sen9vx-PromoHeadline exn3ah99\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c1mnvd95ekeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">G\u00e9rard Depardieu&#8217;s sexual assault trial set to begin<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1w03aro-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The actor was not in court to hear the verdict but was instead working on a film set in the Azores.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer acting for the two women, said she hoped the verdict marked the end of impunity for an artist in the film industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a victory for two women on a film set but it&#8217;s a victory for all the women behind this case and I&#8217;m thinking of all of Depardieu&#8217;s other victims,&#8221; she told reporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The lawyer also noted the case had come to an end hours before the Cannes film festival was due to start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Handing down the suspended jail term, the judge also placed Depardieu on a list of sex offenders and ordered him to pay compensation of \u20ac1,000 (\u00a3840) each to Am\u00e9lie and Sarah for &#8220;secondary victimisation&#8221;, a recent innovation covering the additional suffering for the women from the trial itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Depardieu&#8217;s lawyer J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Assous had accused the women of lying during their evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The alleged assaults took place in September 2021 when Depardieu was making a film called Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) about an ageing actor coming to terms with his declining powers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This was Depardieu&#8217;s first trial on sexual assault charges. Several other women have made similar allegations in the media, and an alleged rape case could come to trial in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">After the trial, the actor was invited to join his close friend and fellow actor Fanny Ardant for a film-shoot in the Azores.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">At the end of the trial in Paris in late March, prosecutor Laurent Guy said: &#8220;It&#8217;s perfectly possible to be an excellent actor and a great father &#8211; and still commit a crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;You are not here to pass judgment on French cinema. You are here to judge G\u00e9rard Depardieu, just as you would any other citizen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Claude Vincent, representing one of the two women plaintiffs, described Depardieu as a &#8220;misogynist&#8221; and a &#8220;case-study in sexism&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Depardieu&#8217;s lawyer had demanded an acquittal and called the plaintiffs&#8217; team &#8220;more militants than lawyers&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;They cannot bear that there should even be a defence. They think any defence is a supplementary assault,&#8221; he told the court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The first plaintiff &#8211; set decorator Am\u00e9lie &#8211; told the court that after a minor argument with Depardieu, he caught her between his legs and held her by the hips.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The second woman &#8211; the film&#8217;s assistant director Sarah &#8211; said the actor had touched her buttocks and breasts through her clothes on three separate occasions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Depardieu denied the allegations, saying only that he might have touched the women accidentally or to keep his balance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said: &#8220;My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It&#8217;s like being in a science fiction film, except it&#8217;s not science fiction. It&#8217;s life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He thanked the prosecution and defence teams for giving him insights into how courts operate. &#8220;These lessons may be an inspiration for me one day if I get to play a lawyer,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Depardieu said he had not worked as an actor for three years since the sexual allegations against him began to circulate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However earlier this month it was reported that he had begun work in the Azores on a film directed by his friend, the actress Fanny Ardant. Depardieu is playing a magician on a mysterious island, according to media reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ardant appeared with Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and spoke in his defence at the trial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Genius &#8211; in whatever form it takes &#8211; carries within it an element of the extravagant, the untamed, the dangerous. (Depardieu) is the monster and the saint,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Another veteran French actress took Depardieu&#8217;s side on Monday. In a rare interview with French television, Brigitte Bardot, 90, deplored how &#8220;talented people who touch the buttocks of a girl are consigned to the deepest dungeon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Feminism isn&#8217;t my thing,&#8221; Bardot said. &#8220;Personally, I like men.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cg5v7ny40q2o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">French film star G\u00e9rard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexual assaulting two women on a film set at a trial in Paris and given a suspended jail term of 18 months. The 76-year-old actor <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/05\/13\/gerard-depardieu-found-guilty-in-sexual-assault-trial\/\" title=\"G\u00e9rard Depardieu found guilty in sexual assault trial\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,6],"tags":[2913,2740,1584],"class_list":{"0":"post-29356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-world","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-paris","12":"tag-sexual-assault","13":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29358,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29356\/revisions\/29358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}