- Gerard Depardieu is said to have groped the woman “everywhere” on the film set
- 12 accusations have been made against the actor but he denies them all
- The statute of limitations for alleged sexual assault of an adult in France is six years
A woman has accused French film legend Gerard Depardieu of allegedly sexually assaulting her during the filming of a movie in 2014, according to a police complaint and a news report.
Depardieu, 75, has been accused of rape in another case and has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than a dozen women. He denies the allegations.
The woman filed a complaint on January 9 accusing Depardieu of “sexual assault on a vulnerable person by someone who abuses the authority of his position”, according to the document seen by AFP on Thursday night.
She told regional newspaper Le Courrier de l’Ouest that he groped her “everywhere” and made “inappropriate” comments while she was a 24-year-old assistant on the set in western France of the 2015 film “Le magician et le Siamiois”. (‘The Wizard and the Siamese’).
The statute of limitations for an alleged sexual assault of an adult in France is six years.
French actor Gerard Depardieu allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in 2014
Depardieu was accused in 2020 of rape and sexual assault after actress Charlotte Arnould filed her own complaint over allegations dating back to 2018.
Another sexual assault complaint filed last year by actress Helene Darras, who said Depardieu groped her and propositioned her during the filming of a film in 2007, was withdrawn because the statute of limitations had expired.
Spanish journalist and author Ruth Baza said she had filed a criminal complaint in Spain against Depardieu last month, alleging that he raped her in 1995 in Paris.
The complaint has little hope of leading to charges due to the statute of limitations in France, which is 20 years for alleged rape of an adult.
But Baza said he decided to go ahead anyway in the hope that it would “help other people” do the same.
The repeated accusations against Depardieu have become a cultural war front in France, dividing the film world and pitting feminist groups against the actor’s defenders, including President Emmanuel Macron.
In December, the French leader said Depardieu should enjoy the presumption of innocence, calling him an “immense actor” and suggesting he was the victim of a “manhunt.”
Macron more recently admitted that he had not “said enough how important the words of women who are victims of this violence are.”