Rape investigation against Gerard Depardieu dropped by French prosecutors over lack of evidence

Paris public prosecutor’s office has dropped the investigation into alleged “rapes and sexual assaults” against popular actor Gerard Depardieu.

A 22-year-old female actor had made a complaint to police in August 2018 over an assault alleged to have occurred at Depardieu’s home in Paris’s Left Bank.

The 70-year-old actor has denied the accusations.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , the prosecutor’s office on Tuesday said that there was not evidence to back up the allegations against Depardieu.

When the allegations emerged, Depardieu’s lawyer, Herv Temime, said the actor was “shaken” and that the claims went against “everything (the actor) is and respects”. According to the publication’s report a 22-year-old actress had filed a complaint back in August of last year against the actor for the alleged physical assaults that took place earlier in the month. Back then, the young actress had claimed that Depardieu, who was a friend of her family, had assaulted her on 7 Aug and 13 Aug at his residence while rehearsing for a role.

Depardieu is considered one of the biggest international stars from France and has made more than 180 movies.

He has starred in films such as Green Card, Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900, Francis Veber’s La Chevre, Franois Truffaut’s The Last Metro, Peter Weir’s Green Card, and the miniseries T_he Count of Monte Cristo._

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)