The day felt like déjà vu. Media personality accused by women, summoned to court. A packed room, a forest of cameras, plaintiffs sitting on the civil parties’ bench… And a lawyer who comes forward to explain that no, unfortunately, his client was unable to come, due to health problems.
2 months to the day after host Stéphane Plaza, it’s Gérard Depardieu‘s turn to stand up in court. The actor should have appeared today before the 10th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court, accused by two women of having sexually assaulted them on the set of the film “The Green Shutters”, by Jean Becker, in 2021.
They speak out on the Depardieu affair:
Complaint Sisters
The first, Amélie, 53 years old, interior designer, claims that on September 10, 2021, Gérard Depardieu would have stuck her between his legs, would have touched her buttocks, sex and chest while making obscene remarks: “Come touch my big parasol, I’m going to shove it in your pussy.” The second, Sarah* (first name changed), 33 years old, third assistant director, denounced touching of her private parts, while she accompanied the actor from his dressing room to the set, in August 2021.
Just behind them on the civil parties’ bench, Charlotte Arnould, 28, came to sit, the first woman to have filed a complaint against Gérard Depardieu. In his own case, he is indicted for rape. The prosecution requested a criminal trial against him. “I couldn’t see myself staying at home and not coming to support them,” the young woman told us, yellow barrettes in her hair. We also see actress Anouk Grinberg in the room, who also denounced the actor’s behavior on the film sets.
“I couldn’t see myself staying at home and not coming to support them”
But now, Jérémie Assous, the defendant’s new lawyer, draws two medical certificates produced by a cardiologist and an endocrinologist-diabetologist. The 75-year-old actor has already undergone four coronary artery bypass surgeries. His diabetes, known for 25 years, is no longer balanced: his blood sugar levels are panicking due to the stress caused by the hearing. The doctors also mention his blood pressure, cruralgia, sciatica… in short: it is impossible for him to appear. A period of six months is necessary to stabilize his condition.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers are surprised. Last April, the ogre of French cinema nevertheless endured 8 hours of police custody without any problem, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They do not oppose the dismissal, but request a new medical expertise, with precise biological data, such as a measurement of his blood sugar, to get an exact idea of Mr. Depardieu’s state of health. The prosecutor, for his part, mischievously notes that these doctors, who affirm that the actor cannot sit for more than six hours in a row, “seem to have a very precise idea of the duration of the criminal hearings”.
A lawyer coming to do the show?
At this stage of the proceedings, all that remained for the defense was to present its arguments to demonstrate why a postponement of the trial to a later date was inevitable. But Me Jérémie Assous, wearing a black dress and slicked back hair, violently attacks the preliminary investigation carried out by the Paris prosecutor’s office. An investigation exclusively for the prosecution, denounces the lawyer, where 18 witnesses were excluded because, according to him, they could not confirm the scene of the alleged attacks. He evokes the configuration of the premises, witness statements, and even the psychiatric expertise of one of the complainants, whom he accuses of having given different speeches to the doctors and the police.
– “Master, you are here to plead for a dismissal, not to address the merits of the case…”, the president weakly attempts.
But nothing seems to be able to stop the lawyer who attacks the public prosecutor, accused of “disloyalty”, the complainants, “for whom the only rights of defense are to appear and be sanctioned”, and even the journalists from Médiapart, accused of having called all the witnesses before their summons to the police.
“You never had the intention of working to reveal the truth,” thunders Me Assous. You have served a media! You wanted the skin of Gérard Depardieu. You wanted him to be quoted. He is cited! Now he will be judged! And he will be relaxed! “.
He ends by saying that the procedure is illegal, and that he will request its annulment.
You wanted the skin of Gérard Depardieu
The prosecutor, a little pale, stands up and asks the clerk to note that the defense has addressed the merits of the case, which it had no right to do at this stage.
After deliberating, the court adjourns the case to March 24, 2025. The hearing will ultimately be held over two days. Gérard Depardieu will have to undergo a new medical examination.
Two-speed justice
At the exit, Amélie, one of the complainants, denounces “a defender who sows chaos, who has thug methods, like her client”. Her lawyer, Me Carine Durrieu Diebolt, recalls that the file is 350 pages long, that three eyewitnesses witnessed moments of the alleged sexual assault, that her client immediately denounced the facts, and that he was even asked to Gérard Depardieu to apologize. As for the absence of the latter, “it’s a very VIP procedure,” says the lawyer. It is the reflection of two-tiered justice. The little drug trafficker on the corner is not going to produce a medical certificate, ask for a dismissal, or not come to the hearing, just because he is stressed…”
Sick, Depardieu? “Yes,” replies Emmanuelle Dancourt, president of the victims’ association MeTooMedia. Gérard Depardieu suffers from the same illness as Stéphane Plaza, and many other men implicated in sexual violence: cowardice.”
