Gérard Depardieu, the French actor, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women.
On Tuesday, a French court convicted Depardieu of sexual assault and sentenced him to an 18-month suspended jail term.
The incidents occurred in September 2021 while the actor was filming ‘Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters)’.
The two women — a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant director — accused Depardieu of groping them, touching them inappropriately, and making obscene comments while on set.
Gerard, however, denied the allegations. He argued in an open letter to the French daily Le Figaro, “Never, but never, have I abused a woman”.
The judge dismissed Depardieu’s defense, stating there was no reason to doubt the victims’ testimonies, which described how he had touched them inappropriately while using vulgar language.
In addition to the suspended sentence, the court placed Depardieu on France’s sex offenders list and ordered him to pay €1,000 (£840) each to Amélie and the second victim (identified in court as Sarah) for secondary victimisation.
Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer representing the two women, hailed the ruling as a victory for victims of sexual assault in the film industry.
“It’s a victory for two women on a film set but it’s a victory for all the women behind this case and I’m thinking of all of Depardieu’s other victims,” she said.
Depardieu, who was working on another film at the time, did not attend the trial. His lawyer Jérémie Assous accused the women of lying while announcing plans to appeal the verdict.
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