Gerard Depardieu is standing trial for sexual assault. He says he doesn’t know what that means

Paris: Actor Gerard Depardieu has told a court he does not consider placing a hand on a person’s buttocks sexual assault and that some women are too easily shocked.

A towering figure of French cinema, Depardieu, 76, has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.

Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial this week for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous.Credit: AP

He admitted in court this week that he was given to “rude” and “vulgar” language no longer regarded as acceptable – it reached a point years ago, the BBC reported him saying, where he insisted no female assistants should come near him in his dressing-room because they were too liable to be shocked.

“Knowing the vulgarity of the old world, today I try to avoid being listened to by the new world – so that I don’t come across as detestable,” he told the court.

This is the first case in which he is standing trial, and he has denied wrongdoing. He is accused of sexually assaulting two women in 2021 on the set of a film called Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) about an ageing actor coming to terms with his declining powers.

One of the women told the court Depardieu had sexually assaulted her.

French actor Gerard Depardieu arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021.Credit: nna\EMcPherson

“I was petrified, I was shocked, I did not know what to say,” said the woman, who has asked that her name not be released publicly.

Depardieu denied touching her: “I did not touch her buttocks, I did not touch her breasts, I did none of that.”

“Sexual assault is something more serious than that … But a hand on someone’s buttocks, it’s not … [that],” Depardieu said, when asked about allegations by one of the two plaintiffs that he had groped her, though he later said he didn’t know what “sexual assault” meant.

The French criminal code clearly spells out that touching someone’s buttocks by surprise, constraint or threat is sexual assault.

During the first two days of the trial, which started on Monday, Depardieu criticised the #MeToo movement. He described it on Tuesday as “a form of hysteria”.

The global #MeToo movement has exposed powerful men who have been accused of sexual harassment in fields including entertainment, politics and business.

Earlier in the trial, Depardieu admitted grabbing one plaintiff, Amelie K, by the hips, but denied it was assault.

Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualised language with a 54-year-old set dresser, and grabbed her hips during an on-set argument about the artistic merits of a painting. Depardieu said he’d been in a “bad mood” because the set was hot, which was hard for him because he is overweight.

“I understand perfectly if she’s a bit upset,” he said in his gruff, deep voice so familiar to cinemagoers. “I don’t have to talk like that, get angry like that, voilà.” But he insisted he was not a sexual predator, saying: “I don’t touch women’s butts.”

His lawyer Jeremie Assous said the accusations were false and investigators were biased, wanting to bring Depardieu down.

If found guilty, Depardieu could face up to five years in jail and a €75,000 ($128,000) fine.

He is also facing rape allegations in a separate case.

Actress Charlotte Arnould, who has accused him of raping her in 2018 when she was 22, was among those present to follow the trial’s proceedings.

Depardieu’s lawyer alluded to her in court and called her a liar. As Arnould burst into tears, Amelie K looked at her, smiling kindly.

The Paris prosecutor’s office last year said Depardieu should face trial over Arnould’s complaint. Depardieu has denied any wrongdoing. It is now up to an investigative judge to say if there will be a trial over those allegations.

The BBC reported Depardieu in court this week saying: “I am not very much at ease with this new society … I think my time is done.”

Reuters

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