French actor Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault on film set
FILE - French actor Gérard Depardieu arrives for 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 26, 2025. (Photo by DIMITAR DI
PARIS - French actor Gérard Depardieu on Tuesday was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set, and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence in a Paris court.
Depardieu, 76, has denied the accusations and didn't attend Tuesday's hearing.
Here’s what to know:
Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault
The backstory:
Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures. He was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac and has enjoyed a long and storied career.
What we know:
Depardieu, who told the court he’s made more than 250 films, was convicted on Tuesday of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters").
Paris’ public prosecutor had requested that Depardieu be found guilty and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 20,000 euros ($22,200).
Dig deeper:
The set dresser testified about the alleged assault during the four-day trial in March, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.
She said he grabbed her hips then started "palpating" her behind and "in front, around." She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then grabbed her chest.
The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor’s calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.
The other plaintiff, an assistant, said that Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set.
Depardieu rejected the accusations, saying he’s "not like that." He acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language on the film set and that he grabbed the set dresser's hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual.
Depardieu has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.
Big picture view:
The case was widely seen as a key post-#MeToo test of how French society and its film industry address allegations of sexual misconduct involving prominent figures.
The Source: This story was reported based on information reported by the Associated Press about the trial proceedings on May 13, 2025. It was reported from Cincinnati, and the AP contributed.