Gérard Depardieu's sexual assault trial: Will France finally hold its icons accountable?

Gérard Depardieu is only not only facing two women accusing him of sexual assault when he entered a Paris courtroom on Monday. France’s most renowned male actor is also confronting a nation often criticised for its reluctance to address sexual violence — particularly when powerful figures are involved.

Depardieu, 76, is accused of assaulting a set dresser and an assistant director during the 2021 filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). While more than 20 women have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, this marks the first time one of these cases has reached trial.

It is also France’s most high-profile post-#MeToo case, testing whether a country known for its culture of seduction is ready to hold its cultural icons accountable.

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Prosecutors allege that Depardieu trapped one of the women with his legs before groping her waist and breasts in front of witnesses. In an interview with investigative outlet Mediapart, the 54-year-old set dresser said Depardieu shouted on set that he “couldn’t even get it up” due to the heat, then told her: “Come and touch my big parasol. I’ll stick it in your (nether regions).” She recounted that he then grabbed her forcefully and had to be pulled away by bodyguards.

The second woman, a 34-year-old assistant director, alleged that she was groped both on set and in the street. The plaintiffs’ identities have been withheld to protect alleged victims of sexual violence.

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Depardieu has denied all accusations.

In an open letter published in Le Figaro in October 2023, he stated: “Never, but never, have I abused a woman. To think that I have hurt someone or made them feel uncomfortable is intolerable to me.”

He added, “I have only ever been guilty of being too loving, too generous, or of having a temperament that is too strong.”

His lawyer, Jérémie Assous, dismissed the case as baseless, saying Depardieu — who recently underwent a quadruple bypass and has diabetes — will attend the two-day trial, with breaks reportedly scheduled to accommodate his health condition.

A culture slow to confront abuse

France has historically been ambivalent — even resistant — toward the #MeToo movement. While Hollywood swiftly saw the downfall of powerful men, the French film industry was slower to respond.

Some dismissed #MeToo as an American import incompatible with French values, citing concerns over free expression and fears of eroding flirtation culture.

Roman Polanski, convicted in the U.S. of unlawful sex with a minor and accused by multiple women of sexual assault, continues to live and work in France largely unchallenged. Despite international outrage, he remains a celebrated figure in French cinema. His 2020 César Award for Best Director — for An Officer and a Spy — prompted several women, including actress Adèle Haenel, to walk out of the ceremony in protest.

Yet, institutional pushback within the industry remained minimal, underscoring a deep reluctance to confront abuse involving revered cultural figures.

In February, director Christophe Ruggia was convicted of sexually abusing Haenel when she was a child. Haenel, who had already left the film industry in protest, has become one of France’s most vocal advocates against abuse.

Actor and filmmaker Judith Godrèche has also emerged as a leading voice. In February 2024, she testified before a French parliamentary commission, accusing directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually exploiting her as a teenager — allegations both men deny. “This is not about desire or love,” she told lawmakers. “It is about power. It is about a system that enables silence.”

That same commission has summoned major actors and producers — including Jean Dujardin — to testify. Several reportedly requested that their hearings be held behind closed doors.

Witnesses and whispers

Anouk Grinberg, a respected actor who starred in Les Volets Verts, has publicly backed the plaintiffs. She described Depardieu’s behaviour on set as vulgar and unsettling, saying she felt “a sense of shame.”

At the time of the alleged 2021 assaults, Depardieu was already under formal investigation for rape. In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case remains active, and in August 2024, prosecutors recommended it go to trial.

Over a five-decade career, Depardieu has appeared in more than 200 films, including Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette, Green Card, and The Man in the Iron Mask. However, his off-screen controversies have long made headlines, from drunk driving to urinating in a plane aisle.

A 2023 France Télévisions documentary, La Chute de l’Ogre (The Fall of the Ogre), reignited debate over his alleged impunity. The film included footage from a 2018 trip to North Korea, in which Depardieu made sexually inappropriate remarks to a female interpreter and appeared to sexualise a young girl on horseback.

For years, such behaviour was dismissed as part of his larger-than-life persona. Now, that legacy is being directly challenged.

Resistance in a country famed for seduction

Godrèche, who told lawmakers she was 14 when Jacquot first exploited her, has called for reforms to France’s statute of limitations on child sex crimes and for stronger protections for minors in the arts. Her testimony — alongside those of other survivors — has brought rare political focus to the culture of silence that many argue pervades French cinema.

Yet resistance persists.

In 2018, actor Catherine Deneuve and more than 100 prominent French women signed an open letter in Le Monde defending what they termed a “freedom to bother.” The letter argued that flirtation should not be confused with harassment and warned against what they saw as creeping American puritanism.

With inputs from AP