Prolific French movie star Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexual assault on Tuesday, with a judge handing down a suspended sentence of 18 months.
The charges against Depardieu stemmed from the testimony of two women, a set decorator and an assistant director, who worked alongside Depardieu on the set of 2022’s “Les Volets Verts.” Both women said that Depardieu, now 76, groped them on separate occasions. A judge ordered the actor to pay the two accusers between €14,000 and €15,000 and required Depardieu to register as a sex offender.
“For me, it’s a victory, truly,” a victim who spoke to the New York Times shared. “We are moving forward.”
Depardieu, who has been a megastar of French cinema for more than 50 years, has been publicly accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women. During the trial, multiple women testified about their own alleged instances of assault at the hands of Depardieu.
A former costume assistant named Lucile Leider said that Depardieu groped her multiple times in 2014, in a manner consistent with stories of Depardieu’s two accusers.
“I remembered saying no with a low voice, but Gérard Depardieu does not know that word,” Lieder said. “This man is dangerous.”
Depardieu maintained his innocence throughout the trial, though he also admitted to the court that he didn’t view placing a hand on a woman’s buttocks as sexual assault. The actor told the court that he was worried a reckoning with sexual assault could become “a terror” and that he was not cut out to work in a post #MeToo film industry.
“I come from the old world, of course, and am not sure if this new world interests me,” he said.
Depardieu has promised to appeal the verdict.
