French screen legend Depardieu faces sexual assault trial

Gerard Depardieu will stand trial from Monday in Paris on charges of sexual assault against two women, representing a small fraction of allegations against the legendary French actor in recent years.

RAPE ALLEGATIONS

Actor Charlotte Arnould, now 28, filed a criminal complaint in southern France against Depardieu, now aged 75, in August 2018.

She said he had twice raped her that month at his Paris home, which Depardieu denies.

The complaint was thrown out for lack of evidence by investigators in 2019 -- but Arnould managed to force them to reopen it in 2019.

At the time, her identity as Depardieu's accuser remained under wraps.

FIRST CHARGES

Depardieu was charged with rape and sexual assault in the Arnould case on December 16, 2020, later failing to have the case dismissed.

In 2021, Arnould went public as Depardieu's accuser, saying on Twitter that she was horrified to see him continue his career while she "spent her time surviving".

FLOOD OF ALLEGATIONS

Thirteen women made allegations of sexual violence by Depardieu to French investigative website Mediapart in April 2023.

Prosecutors said at the time that they had received "no new criminal complaints to date".

That did not stop largely female demonstrators holding up a Depardieu concert in northern city Lille in April and in Lyon in May.

The actor was also removed from the promotional campaign for his latest film, "Umami".

In July 2023, two more women film workers made allegations of sexual assault to broadcaster France Inter.

CAREER ON HOLD

Actor Helene Darras filed a criminal complaint against Depardieu in September 2023, saying he assaulted her while they were filming "Disco" in 2007.

But her complaint was dismissed as it was past the statute of limitations.

"Never, but never, have I abused a woman," Depardieu himself wrote in an open letter to conservative daily Le Figaro the following month, insisting he was "neither a rapist nor a predator".

Actor Anouk Grinberg retorted in Elle magazine that she had "seen him do it".

"Everyone who's worked with Depardieu knows that he assaults women," Grinberg added.

The actor placed his career on hold.

'SHAME FOR FRANCE'

In December 2023, an investigative TV show broadcast a recording from five years earlier of Depardieu during a visit to North Korea where he makes repeated misogynistic and sexual remarks about an underage girl.

Then-Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak called the recording a "shame for France" and said she would look into withdrawing Depardieu's Legion d'Honneur -- France's highest decoration.

The actor was struck off the National Order of Quebec, lost his status as an honorary citizen of a Belgian municipality, and even saw his waxwork removed from the Musee Grevin -- Paris' equivalent of Madame Tussaud's.

Also in December, Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza filed a criminal complaint in her home country for an alleged rape by Depardieu when she was interviewing him in Paris in 1995.

BATTLE IN THE FILM WORLD

Depardieu's family, including his daughter Julie Depardieu, denounced a "plot" against the actor in December 2023.

And President Emmanuel Macron took Depardieu's defence, saying he remained a "towering actor" who "makes France proud" and was being subjected to a "manhunt".

Actor Carole Bouquet, a former partner of Depardieu's, said he was "incapable of harming a woman" -- joined by around 60 celebrities who protested his "lynching" in an op-ed on Le Figaro's website.

But they were met within 48 hours by a counter-op-ed signed by around 8,000 artists.

THE 'GREEN SHUTTERS' SHOOT

In January 2024, a former production assistant filed a criminal complaint for an alleged sexual assault while filming the 2014 short "Le Magicien et les siamois" ("The Magician and the Siamese").

Her complaint was dropped in April as it was past the statute of limitations.

In February, a set dresser made similar allegations about the 2021 shoot for "Les volets verts" ("The Green Shutters").

She was followed by a second woman, who Mediapart reported was an assistant director on the same shoot.

SECOND TRIAL COMING?

Depardieu's trial relating to both allegations around "Les Volets Verts" begins Monday.

He could soon face a second, with Paris prosecutors requesting on August 14 that he be tried in criminal court for rape and sexual assault against Charlotte Arnould.