The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has requested that actor Gérard Depardieu stand trial in relation to rape allegations against him made by actress Charlotte Arnould, the French media reported on Thursday.
Arnould brought the charges in 2020, alleging Depardieu twice raped and assaulted her at his Paris home in August 2018. Depardieu, who denies the allegations, lost his appeal for the court to drop the case.
Speaking to French channel BFMTV, Arnould’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt called the request a “huge step forward towards a trial, noting that Arnould “is now impatiently awaiting the end of the investigation.”
Arnould alleges that Depardieu, a friend of her father’s, raped her on two separate occasions, in the summer of 2018, when she had visited his Parisian home to ask for advice. Arnould was 22 years old at the time while Depardieu was 69. After various legal wrangling, including the actor’s failed attempt to get the case dismissed, a Parisian investigating judge indicted Depardieu for rape and sexual assault, releasing him without judicial supervision. A judge has yet to decide on the fresh trial request.
In April, the prosecutor’s office confirmed that the Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac actor will stand trial in another sexual assault case, brought by two women who claim he assaulted them on set of French film The Green Shutters in 2021. That trial is expected to begin in October.
Depardieu denies all wrongdoing in these and the many other sexual assault accusations brought against him in recent years. In an open letter published in the conservative Le Figaro newspaper last fall, he suggested his acts had been misinterpreted.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
