Gérard Depardieu to face trial in Paris over rape and sexual assault allegations

PARIS (AP) — French film star Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to stand trial before a criminal court in Paris over allegations of rape and sexual assault against actor Charlotte Arnould.

“I feel relieved,” Arnould, 29, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, announcing that she had received the investigating judge’s indictment order. “The order restores a form of judicial truth. I think I’m having trouble realizing how huge this is.”

Arnould has said that the alleged crimes took place at Depardieu’s Paris home on Aug. 7 and Aug. 13, 2018. She was 22 and he was 69 at the time. He has denied wrongdoing.

“The acts of rape and sexual assault have been acknowledged,” Arnould said. “Now, we await the next steps.”

No date for the trial has been set yet, and there was no official comment from the court.

Arnould’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, said in a statement that she and Arnould were “relieved and confident,” describing the decision as a “moment of judicial truth” in the case, pending trial.

Prosecutors submitted a request last year for the case to proceed to trial.

The 76-year-old Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, has faced a series of accusations of wrongdoing against women in recent years.

He was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The case was widely seen as a post-#MeToo test for the country’s film industry. Arnould attended that trial.

In that case, Depardieu was convicted of groping a 54-year-old woman responsible for decorating the set and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”) in 2021. The court ordered his name to be listed in the national sex offender database.

The actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women in all, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or because the statute of limitations expired.

For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility. A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under renewed scrutiny, including after a documentary showed him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.