French Film Legend Gérard Depardieu Convicted Of Sexual Assault In France’s Biggest #MeToo Case

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Baila Eve ZismanMay 13, 2025, 5:52 pmNews >

On Tuesday, a Paris court found French actor Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexual assault on a 2021 film set.

Depardieu, 76, has been convicted of groping a set designer on the set of Les Violets Verts (The Green Shutters).

Paris’ public prosecutor requested that Depardieu be found guilty and be fined €20,000 ($22,200), in addition to an 18-month suspended prison sentence. This case has been viewed as a landmark trial in French society regarding the reaction to allegations of sexual misconduct following the #MeToo movement.

Depardieu, who told the court that he has made over 250 films, has denied any wrongdoing.

In April 2024, the actor was arrested after 13 women accused him of harassment in a separate incident.

During the four-day trial, which took place in March, Depardieu acknowledged that he had a habit of using sexual and vulgar language on the film set, and had once grabbed a set dresser’s hips in the heat of an argument. However, regarding the accusations of groping, he insisted that he is “not like that,” claiming his behavior was never sexual.

However, when the set dresser described the incident, she remembered the occasion as much more sexually harrowing. She described how Depardieu had grabbed her between his legs while passing in a corridor and began to touch her body inappropriately before groping her chest. She further remembered Depardieu using indecent language, asking her to touch his groin and insinuating that he wanted to rape her.

The other accuser, an assistant on the film set, accused Depardieu of groping her butt and breasts on three separate times while filming the movie.

Depardieu was further accused of assault by actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018, who alleged that Depardieu raped her in his home. The case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested it go to trial. He has been accused of misconduct publicly or in formal complaints by over 20 women, but the only ones that have proceeded to court are the sexual assault cases.

The set dresser’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said, “It is the victory of two women, but it is the victory of all the women beyond this trial…Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema. I think that with this decision, we can no longer say that he is not a sexual abuser. And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I’d like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu’s victims.”