Gérard Depardieu will be tried for alleged sexual abuse during filming

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October for alleged sexual assaults committed in 2021 against two women on the set of a film, prosecutors said Monday.

The 75-year-old actor, who had previously denied any wrongdoing, was detained for questioning by police in Paris for several hours on Monday. His lawyer, Christian Saint-Palais, later refused to speak to reporters beyond saying that the actor was no longer in police custody.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the actor was “summoned to appear before the criminal court” after questioning.

A trial will begin in October “for sexual assaults that were probably committed in September 2021” against “two victims, on the set of the film ‘Les volets verts’,” according to the statement. The alleged victims were not identified.

French newspaper Le Parisien reported that a 53-year-old set designer alleges that he grabbed her and touched her on the waist, belly and breasts during the filming of “Les volets verts,” according to the woman’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu. Diebolt, when he filed the complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office in February.

In an open letter last October, Depardieu said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”

Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. In 2020, preliminary charges of rape and sexual assault were brought against him following accusations by actress Charlotte Arnould.

In that case, the investigating judge completed his investigation on April 17 and transferred the file to the Paris prosecutor’s office “to review and determine the next steps in the procedure,” the prosecutor’s office said Monday.

Depardieu was long considered a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador of French cinema and has enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.

The latest episode involving Depardieu came at a time when French cinema is shaken by the awakening of the #MeToo movement following actress Judith Godrèche’s call for the French film industry to “face the truth” about the sexual violence and physical abuse. Godrèche made that call during a live broadcast in February of the César Awards ceremony, the French equivalent of the Oscars.