PARIS (AP) — The plaintiffs’ lawyers called French actor Gérard Depardieu a sexual predator and a “misogynist” Thursday in their final plea at a Paris trial over accusations that he sexually assaulted two women who were working on a film with him.
The actor, 76, is accused of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during filming of the movie “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”) in 2021. He has denied the accusations.
He faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($81,000) if convicted. The verdict is expected at a later date.
The set dresser’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, called Depardieu a sexual predator who committed misconduct for decades towards “little people” in the cinema world.
:Maybe you think he’s a great actor and you love his films,” she said. “Depardieu is also a sexual predator.”
His status as a world-renowned actor made him both an artistic and an economic power in the film industry, in contrast with the plaintiffs who risked being blacklisted if they speak up, Durrieu Diebolt said, denouncing what she called a “system of impunity.”
“M. Depardieu, when he’s touching women’s bodies, he’s exercising his power over them,” she said.
On Tuesday, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language with the set dresser who accused him of sexual assault. He said he grabbed her hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual.
The lawyer for the other plaintiff, Claude Vincent, started her plea with a minutes-long list of obscene words and other vulgar expressions rarely heard in a courtroom, saying: “That’s how Gerard Depardieu behaves on a film set, that the atmosphere he’s imposing around him.”
“No, you can’t separate the man from the artist,” she said. “He is Gérard Depardieu, a misogynist amid misogynists.”
The plaintiff, a film assistant, said Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set.
Depardieu has rejected the accusations since the beginning of the trial Monday, saying he’s “not like that.”
The actor is being tried by a panel of three judges, not a jury, which is normal for such cases. The judges don’t issue their verdict straight away but generally deliberate for weeks or months.
