French actor Gerard Depardieu faces trial over ‘rape and sexual assault’ of actress in 2018
French film star Gerard Depardieu has been ordered to stand trial before a criminal court in Paris on charges of rape and sexual assault against fellow actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018.
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Depardieu is France’s best-known film star, and has been under investigation over the allegations since 2020.
Prosecutors in Paris opened a preliminary investigation in 2018 after Arnould reported the actor to the police, accusing him of raping her at his home.
Arnould, whose father was friends with Depardieu, was 22 at the time. Depardieu was 70.
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In an open letter to French daily Le Figaro in October 2023, Depardieu denied Arnould’s allegations. Claiming that their encounter was consensual, he wrote “Never, ever, have I abused a woman”.
"I feel relieved," Arnould wrote on Instagram on Tuesday after receiving the investigating judge's indictment order.
"The order restores a form of judicial truth. I think I'm having trouble realising how huge this is."
Arnould's lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, was not immediately available for comment.
She told Franceinfo media she was "extremely satisfied" and described the decision as a "moment of judicial truth in this case".
"The acts of rape and sexual assault have been acknowledged," Arnould said. "Now, we await the next steps."
The state prosecutor’s recommendation to take the case to trial included graphic details, including claims that Depardieu “constrained the victim to submit to his will to impose sexual acts on her that she did not have the capacity to oppose,” Le Monde reported.
Prosecutors submitted a request last year for the case to proceed to trial.
The French actor was found guilty of sexual assaulting two women in a separate case earlier this year, and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.
The 76-year-old Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, was convicted of groping a 54-year-old woman responsible for decorating the set and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in 2021.
The court ordered his name to be listed in the national sex offender database.
Depardieu's long and storied career, which he told the court includes more than 250 films, has turned him into a French film giant.
He was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.
In recent years, the actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court.
Other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or an expired statute of limitations.