The trial of actor Gerard Depardieu was seen by many as a pivotal moment in France’s reckoning of widespread rape and sexual assault in its film industry – a #MeToo of sorts.
To make Depardieu pay for his alleged crimes seemed at first a difficult proposition, when even the country’s president was cheering him on, as we reported back in December 2023 in Macron in Hot Water for Defending Gérard Depardieu: ‘He Makes France Proud’ – French Film Star Is Facing an Array of Rape and Sexual Assault Allegations.
But in the end, the film star was tried and convicted yesterday (13) by a Paris court of sexually assaulting two women on a film set.
But he was only handed a 18-month suspended sentence, as the presiding judge blasted him for not understanding the ‘traumatic’ impact of his behavior.
Reuters reported:
“In the highest-profile #MeToo case to come before judges in France, Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he would appeal the court’s decision.”
#French actor Gérard #Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence on Tuesday for sexually #assaulting two women on the set of “Les Volets Verts” (‘The Green Shutters’) in 2021, amid longstanding criticism over his behaviour towards #women. pic.twitter.com/stCeb18ErF
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) May 13, 2025
“Depardieu, 76, was a towering figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including Green Card, The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac.
His trial marked a moment of reckoning for the #MeToo protest movement over sexual violence, which has failed to gain the same traction in France as in the United States, although there are signs that social attitudes are changing.”
This verdict came on the first day of the famous Cannes film festival, as the Franch struggle to address their ‘laissez-faire’ attitude towards sexual harassment and sexual assault.
A set decorator told the court the actor groped her as she stood trapped between his legs, while making explicit sexual comments. She testified that she was terrified, while he laughed.
Depardieu testified that he did not consider placing a hand on a person’s buttocks sexual assault, and that ‘some women were too easily shocked’, but judge Thierry Donard said that “He does not seem to have grasped either the concept of consent or the deleterious and traumatic consequences of his behavior towards the women he assaulted.”
Depardieu will now be put on a list of sex offenders, and is expected to face another trial in a separate rape investigation.
Read more:
#MeToo, French Style: Controversial Film Star Gérard Depardieu on Trial for Sexual Assault
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