French Prosecutors Call for 18-Month Suspended Sentence for Gérard Depardieu in Assault Case

The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 ($21,500) fine for actor Gérard Depardieu in his sexual assault trial this week.

Two women have accused the French acting legend (Cyrano de Bergerac, Green Card) of assaulting them on the set of French film The Green Shutters in 2021.

The sentencing request, issued on Thursday, comes after a contentious four-day hearing in Paris. There have been more than 20 public allegations made against Depardieu alleging sexually inappropriate behavior, but this is first time he has appeared in court.

Depardieu could be back later this year to stand trial in a separate case, involving rape allegations made by actress Charlotte Arnould, dating back to 2018.

The Green Shutters case concerns allegations made by a set dresser and a third assistant director who claim Depardieu groped them and made sexually-inappropriate comments. The set dresser, referred to only as Amélie in court, said the actor grabbed her with his legs and started groping her, saying he was going to take his “big parasol” and “shove it up your pussy.” The third assistant director, referred to as Sarah, described Depardieu grabbing her buttocks and breasts on two separate occasions on set.

Depardieu refuted both accounts, claiming that as an old man (he is 76) he was “not into groping” and that his actions had been misinterpreted. In one instance, the actor claimed, he had grabbed Amélie’s hips “to keep from slipping.”

Depardieu has repeatedly denied all accusations of sexual assault. During the trial, his lawyer Jérémie Assous, denounced what he called a “botched police investigation” into the allegations and “Stalinist methods” on the part of the prosecution.

The Depardieu trial is being held against the backdrop of several high-profile sexual assault cases in France over the past few months, including the Gisèle Pelicot mass rape case and Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel’s successful prosecution of director Christophe Ruggia , who was found guilty of sexually assaulting and molesting her over the course of three years, starting when she was 12.