French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledges boorish behavior but denies sexual assault

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledged Tuesday that he aggressively subjected a woman who accuses him of sexual assault to vulgar and heated language and that he grabbed her hips but denied that his behavior was sexual as he testified for the first time at his landmark trial in Paris.

The woman told the court that the Oscar-nominated actor behaved “like a madman” who took “pleasure in frightening me.”

Day 2 of the Paris trial centered on the 76-year-old actor’s behavior during filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”), where two co-workers allege that he groped them on the set.

The chief judge said the trial will be extended two days to end Thursday.

Depardieu has denied assaulting the women. But in his testimony Tuesday in a packed Paris court, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language with one of the plaintiffs, a 54-year-old set dresser, and grabbed her hips during an on-set argument about the artistic merits of a painting.

Depardieu said he’d been in a “bad mood” because the set was hot, which was hard for him because he is overweight.

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“I understand perfectly if she’s a bit upset,” he said in his gruff, deep voice so familiar to cinemagoers. “I don’t have to talk like that, get angry like that, voilà.”

But he insisted that he isn’t a sexual predator, saying: “I don’t touch women’s butts.”

He recognized that the woman may have felt “suffocated” by his behavior, which he described as a “type of aggression.”

“But certainly not sexual. Non!” he exclaimed, raising his voice.

The actor faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($81,000) if convicted. The verdict isn’t expected immediately after the trial.

Plaintiff details alleged assault

After Depardieu spoke first for more than an hour, the set dresser then testified. She described the alleged assault in detail, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.

She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and “in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then reached for and grabbed her chest.

“That’s when I had a reflex of ‘My God.’ I tried to free myself, I tried to take his hands away, I couldn’t do it,” she testified. “He terrified me, he laughed, he looked like a madman.”

“It was very brief, there was no shouting,” she said, adding that she’d been too “petrified” to speak and that he was too strong for her to break free. She said someone came and removed Depardieu’s hands from her.

“I saw in his eyes a pleasure in frightening me, that’s what I felt, it’s savagery,” she said. “He terrified me, and that amused him.”

The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor’s calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.

“Here, he’s exemplary, he doesn’t move, he’s quiet, he doesn’t make any noise,” she said. “He’s not like that on the film set: He gesticulates, he grunts, he makes remarks to women.”

On the movie set, “he started saying sexual things, talking about his sexual capabilities,” she said.

The second plaintiff, a 34-year-old who worked as an assistant on the film, is yet to testify.

Depardieu says career has taken a hit

Because of Depardieu’s fame and impact on the French movie industry, his trial is seen as an important test of French willingness to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable.

His long and storied career — he told the court that he’s made more than 250 films — has turned him into a French movie giant. He was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac. French President Emmanuel Macron has included himself among Depardieu’s many admirers, calling him a “great actor” who “makes France proud.” That was in 2023, when the star was already facing sexual misconduct allegations.

In his testimony, Depardieu said work has dried up as accusations have mounted. Since 2022, he’s not had a big-screen lead role.

“That’s horrible what they’re doing to me, calling me a ‘big pig’! I haven’t worked for three years,” he said.

He also has health issues. The actor has undergone a quadruple heart bypass and has diabetes, according to his lawyer. A court-appointed medical expert determined that he’s fit to stand trial, but recommended that the hearings don’t exceed six hours, with regular breaks.

The trial represents another reckoning for France and its attitudes toward sexual violence, coming in the wake of the historic case last year involving Gisèle Pelicot. She became a feminist icon when she bravely demanded that the drugging-and-rape trial for 51 men tried for horrific abuses against her be held in open court. Many hoped that would make shame change sides from female victims to male aggressors.

Actor acknowledges boorish behavior

Depardieu said he apologized to the set dresser three days after the alleged assault. He said he recognized that she was in “shock” and “petrified.”

“I’m sorry, this is not what I wanted,” he said.

He acknowledged to the court that his behavior can be boorish.

“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob.”

But he said he “never, ever” would have pincered a woman between his legs against her will.

“I’m not like that,” he said.