Paris — French police on Monday detained screen actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning after two women accused him of sexual assault, a source close to the case said. The 75-year-old actor, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was charged with rape in 2020 and was forced to put his career on hold last autumn as allegations of sexual harassment and assault mounted against him. He denies any wrongdoing.
The first woman accuses him of having assaulted her when she was a member of the crew on the 2022 feature film "The Green Shutters".
The set designer, who filed a formal complaint in February, told investigative website Mediapart that Depardieu grabbed her as she left the set in a private hotel in Paris.
She alleged he groped her "waist and stomach, moving up to (her) breasts" and made obscene comments before his bodyguards removed him.
The news of Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction being overturned by a New York court has shocked many.
- Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York court
In a similar vein, renowned actor Gerard Depardieu is facing serious allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
A second woman has come forward, accusing Depardieu of groping her and making inappropriate remarks while she was working as an assistant on a film set in 2015.
These accusations add to the rape charge and assault claims from more than a dozen women that Depardieu has vehemently denied.
In a statement to Le Figaro newspaper, Depardieu stated, "Never ever have I abused a woman."
The legal troubles for Depardieu continue, as he was charged by police in 2020 for rape and sexual assault following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.
Additionally, a sexual assault complaint from actor Helene Darras, accusing Depardieu of groping and propositioning her during a film shoot in 2007, has been dropped due to the statute of limitations.
More recently, Spanish journalist and author Ruth Baza filed a criminal complaint in Spain, alleging that Depardieu raped her in Paris in 1995.
Despite the events having passed the statute of limitations, she said she decided to file her complaint in the hope that it would "help other people" to do the same.
Depardieu had long made headlines for antics such as socialising with the leaders of Russia and Belarus, obtaining a Russian passport to protest against a planned tax hike in France, and delaying a 2011 flight after urinating into a bottle that overflowed.
His wax sculpture was hurriedly removed from the Musee Grevin waxwork museum in Paris and Canada's Quebec region stripped him of its top honour.
Actor Anouk Grinberg, a co-star to Depardieu on "The Green Shutters", has described how she and others on set were "treated to his salacious nonsense from morning to night".
"When film producers hire Depardieu on a film, they know they are hiring an aggressor," she told AFP.
Grinberg said producers of "The Green Shutters" had supposedly appointed someone to deal with harassment issues but that she did nothing.
French cinema has in recent months been rocked by allegations that it has shrugged off sexism and sexual abuse for decades.
Depardieu's case has exposed a major split in French cinema and wider society, with some defending his right to "presumption of innocence" and others supporting his accusers.
President Emmanuel Macron sparked an outcry in December when he defended the "immense actor" as innocent until proven guilty and insinuated he was the victim of a "manhunt".
Macron later added that he should have emphasised the importance of women speaking up.
Actor Judith Godreche, 52, has become a leading voice in France's #MeToo movement after accusing two film directors of abusing her as an underage teenager.
Speaking in the upper house of parliament in February, she urged the authorities to reform the French cinema industry to protect young actresses from sexual violence.
