By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-25 18:22:12 | Updated at 2025-03-26 12:10:09
18 hours ago
French film star Gerard Depardieu admitted in court on Tuesday that he had grabbed by the hips a woman who has accused him of sexual assault, but denied it was assault, attributing any crude comments he had made to being in a bad mood.
The plaintiff, Amelie K, a set decorator, spoke in court after Depardieu, and said the actor had groped her all over her body as he trapped her between his legs and made explicit sexual comments, terrifying her while they were on a film set in 2021.
“He grabbed me and groped me in the front of my body, the back, all around. He trapped me with his legs,” she told the court. “He touched everything, including my breasts,” she said. “I was terrified, he was laughing.”
A towering figure of French cinema, Depardieu, 76, has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.
Depardieu’s trial is the highest-profile #MeToo case in the media industry to come before the courts in France. He has denied wrongdoing and this is the first case over which he is standing trial.
“Yes, I confirm I grabbed her by the hips to tell her not very nice things, but not to grope her,” Depardieu said.
