Gerard Depardieu: Oscar-nominated French actor found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on film set

The French star, 76, was accused of groping both women while working on a film in 2021. Depardieu has been sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

He was accused of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser named and a 34-year-old assistant director on the set of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). The court is said to have found the set designer’s story was consistent, while Depardieu, who has continued to denied the claims, was deemed to have changed his account over the course of the investigation and trial.

The set designer had accused the actor of pincering her legs while she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor. She added that he grabbed her hips before “palpitating” behind her. The second victim, the film’s assistant director, claimed that Depardieu touched her breasts and buttocks through her clothes in three separate occasions.

Depardieu, who gained an Oscar nomination for his role in the 1990 film Cyrano de Bergerac, admitted that he had used sexualised language on set and admitted to grabbing the set designer’s hips during an argument. However, he denied that his behaviour was sexual and suggested that any touch may have been to help him keep his balance.

Depardieu did not attend Tuesday’s verdict hearing, where he was handed down an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 (£16,850) fine. The actor is also require to register on the sex offenders’ list.

Depardieu did attend the four-day trial in March. At the end of the hearings, he said: "My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults. A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It's like being in a science fiction film, except it's not science fiction. It's life."

The case is seen to be a key moment in the post-#MeToo movement, specifically in the French film industry. Depardieu, who is considered as one of the preeminent modern French actors, has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of sexual assault by around 20 women, however this is the first case to come to court so far.

In 2018, he was accused of raping actor Charlotte Arnould at her home. The case remains active, with prosecutors requesting in August 2024 that the case go to trial.