The public prosecutor’s office also stated that Depardieu received a court summons at the end of the interrogation. The subject of the proceedings are alleged sexual assaults that are said to have taken place in September 2021 on the set of the film “Les volets verts” by director Jean Becker.
After hours of interrogation on Monday, Depardieu was released from police custody, according to his lawyer. “Police custody has ended. He will no longer be held at the police station,” Depardieu’s lawyer Christian Saint-Palais said as he left the police station. Depardieu rejected the two women’s allegations during the interrogation.
A set designer had accused Depardieu of sexually harassing her on the set of “Les volets verts” in 2021. Depardieu made numerous offensive comments, she told Medipart magazine. He also “brutally grabbed” her and groped her “at the waist, stomach and up to her breasts”. The actor’s bodyguards finally stopped Depardieu.
“We had to listen to his nonsense from morning to night,” actress Anouk Grimberg, who starred in the film, recently told AFP. “When producers hire Depardieu, they know he is an aggressor,” she added.
The lawyer for the set designer allegedly attacked by Depardieu, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, spoke to the AFP news agency of “relief” in view of the legal action against Depardieu. Durrieu-Diebolt also represents a woman who accuses the actor of crimes from 2014. According to her statements, Depardieu groped the woman and used foul language during the filming of the film “Le Magicien et les Siamois”.
Depardieu has already been reported several times for sexual violence. Since 2020, the judiciary has been investigating the alleged rape of actress Charlotte Arnould against the movie star. The actress Hélène Darras had also reported him for rape, but the case was dropped due to the statute of limitations. Journalist Ruth Baza sued Depardieu for rape in Spain in 1995.
Around 20 women have now accused the actor of assault and harassment in the media or before the judiciary. Depardieu has so far rejected all allegations. “I have never abused a woman,” he wrote in an open letter published in October.
French President Emmanuel Macron had publicly supported the actor several times and referred to the presumption of innocence. Depardieu is one of France’s most famous film stars. He worked with the country’s most important directors and actresses and starred in more than 200 films and series.
2024-04-29 18:33:08