By Juliette Jabkhiro
PARIS (Reuters) – French movie star Gerard Depardieu admitted in court on Tuesday to grabbing by the hips a woman who accuses him of sexual assault, but denied this was assault and said any crude comments he may have made were just because of his bad mood.
A towering figure of French cinema, Depardieu, now aged 76, has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and this is the first case for which he is standing trial.
“I grabbed her hips,” Depardieu said, admitting to physical contact with set decorator Amelie K. for the first time and saying he had not told police about it when being interrogated by police.
But he added: “I grabbed her hip so as not to slip because I was so upset by her, by the heat, it was a Friday towards the end of shooting, I was very tired.”
Sounding at times confused and often wandering off topic, Depardieu, sitting on a chair as he spoke in court, said he had been upset at plaintiff Amelie K. over her work. He said she was doing badly and he accused her of having been shocked by that.
“I don’t see why I would grope a woman,” he told the court, adding that he was so overweight at the time that some of what he is accused of – such as trapping Amelie K. between his legs – would have been impossible.
Crude comments he made at the time were not directed at her personally, he said, but related to her work.
If found guilty, Depardieu could face a sentence of up to five years in jail and a 75,000-euro ($81,000) fine.
The trial, expected to last at least three days, was initially due to be held in October but was postponed due to Depardieu’s ill health. It started on Monday.
Prosecutors allege the assaults against Amelie K. and another woman – their full identities have not been revealed – took place during the filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (The Green Shutters).
The prosecutors accuse Depardieu of groping Amelie K. on the film set, pulling her towards him and trapping her with his legs before touching her waist, hips, breasts and genitals, while saying obscene words. Three people witnessed the scene, prosecutors say.
They say the second woman was groped by Depardieu on set and in the street.
Depardieu’s trial is the highest-profile #MeToo case in the media industry to come before the courts in France
The accusations against Depardieu, and his trial, have divided French actors. Some have taken his side, and were expected to speak at the trial, while others have backed the plaintiffs.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Angus MacSwan)
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