Gerard Depardieu arrives on the fourth day of his trial in which he is charged with sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021, at the Paris criminal court in the Tribunal de Paris courthouse, on March 27, 2025. Photo: AFP
A court in Paris found French actor Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexual assault against two different women on a film set in 2021, in one of the highest-profile #MeToo cases to come before judges in France.
In one of the highest-profile #MeToo cases to come before judges in France, Depardieu, a towering figure of French cinema, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But judge Thierry Donard said Depardieu's explanation of events had been unconvincing.
The public prosecutor has asked the court to hand 76-year-old Depardieu a suspended 18-month prison sentence and a €20,000 fine ($37,750).
One of the two plaintiffs, Amelie K, a set decorator, had told the court the actor had groped her all over her body as he trapped her between his legs and made explicit sexual comments.
"He touched everything, including my breasts," she told the court. "I was terrified, he was laughing."
The presiding judge said two witnesses corroborated her account whilst Depardieu had been contradictory in his own accounts.
Depardieu's lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision that found him guilty of sexual assault against two women on a 2021 film set.
The #MeToo protest movement over sexual violence has struggled to gain the same traction in France as in the United States, though there are signs that social attitudes towards sexual assault may be changing.
- Reuters
