French actor Depardieu admits grabbing woman, denies sexual assault

Gerard Depardieu, a French film star, admitted to grabbing a woman who accuses him of sexual assault in a Paris court, but he denied that she was having it because of her bad mood. He also said any crude remarks he made were just that.

In an assault on a 2021 movie set in 2021 that terrified her, the plaintiff, Amelie K, claimed he had touched her all over her body as he had sex her in a statement made after Depardieu on Tuesday in court.

Depardieu admitted making the first physical contact with set decorator Amelie K and claimed he had not told the police about it when being interrogated, and that he had “grabbed her hips.”

He continued, “I grabbed her hip so as not to slip because I was very tired and upset by her because it was so hot outside.”

Depardieu, 76, a renowned director in French cinema, has recently been the subject of an increasing number of sexual assault allegations.

He has never been accused of any wrongdoing, and this is his first trial.

The jury is charged with sexual assault in Jean Becker’s Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) movie adaptation of 2021.

A 54-year-old set dresser, identified only as Amelie K, and a 34-year-old assistant director, Anouk Grinberg, a well-known actor who appeared in the movie, have supported the case’s two plaintiffs. Both women make allegations of sexual abuse.

Depardieu told the court on Tuesday that he had been angry with Amelie K because of what transpired during the shoot. He claimed that she had been shocked by the accusations and that he had made them feel bad about their work.

He claimed that he was overweight at the time and that some of the things he is accused of doing, such as trapping Amelie K between his legs, would have been impossible because he had no idea why he would grope a woman.

He claimed that his crude remarks at the time were related to her work and not directly at her.

Depardieu had not at all criticized her work at the time, according to Amelie K, who testified to the court. She claimed that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her and made crude sexual remarks.

He grabbed me and groped me all over, both in the back and in the front. The plaintiff complained to the court, adding that she was unable to leave because he had “trapped me with his legs”.

She said, “He touched everything, including my breasts.” He was laughing, and I was terrified.

Amelie K claimed that someone stepped in after she was released from Depardieu and pulled away. She did not know who.

A similar account of what the prosecution claimed was a sexual assault was also provided by the prosecution.

Depardieu allegedly groped the second woman on set and in the street.

The accusations were false and based on lies, Depardieu’s attorney Jeremie Assous said to reporters on Monday. He claimed in court that Depardieu wanted to be overturned and that investigators were biased.

The most well-known #MeToo case to go before French courts is Depardieu’s trial, which is the largest.

He faces a fine of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to five thousand euros ($81, 000).

In the 1980s, Depardieu rose to fame with roles in The Last Metro, Police, and Cyrano de Bergerac, before Peter Weir’s 1990 film Green Card made him a Hollywood star.

Source: Aljazeera