Suspended 18-month sentence sought in Depardieu trial

PARIS — Paris' public prosecutor on Thursday requested that French actor Gérard Depardieu be found guilty and given a 18-month suspended prison sentence on the last day of a trial over accusations that he sexually assaulted two women who were working on a film with him. The actor, 76, is accused of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during filming in 2021 of the movie "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters"). He denied the accusations. "You're going to declare Gérard Depardieu guilty of these sexual assaults," the prosecutor told the court. He also requested a fine of $21,580. The prosecutor denounced Depardieu's "total denial and failure to question himself." The actor showed no apparent reaction. The maximum sentence for the charges is up to five years in prison and a fine of $81,000 if convicted. The verdict, decided by a panel of judges, will be rendered on May 13. Depardieu's long and storied career has turned the four-day trial into a post- #MeToo test of the willingness of France and its movie industry to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable. Alleged misconduct for decades Earlier on Thursday, the plaintiffs' lawyers called Depardieu a sexual predator and a "misogynist" in their final plea. The set dresser's lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said that he committed misconduct for decades towards "little people" in the cinema world. "Maybe you think he's a great actor and you love his films," she said. "Depardieu is also a sexual predator." His status as a world-renowned actor made him both an artistic and an economic power in the film industry, in contrast with the plaintiffs, who risked being blacklisted if they spoke up, Durrieu Diebolt said, denouncing what she called a "system of impunity." "Depardieu, when he's touching women's bodies, he's exercising his power over them," she said. On Tuesday, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language with the set dresser. He said he grabbed her hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual. Plaintiff's lawyer describes a misogynist The lawyer for the other plaintiff started her plea with a minutes-long list of obscene words and other vulgar expressions rarely heard in a courtroom, saying: "That's how Gerard Depardieu behaves on a film set, that the atmosphere he's imposing around him." "No, you can't separate the man from the artist," said the lawyer, Claude Vincent. "He is Gérard Depardieu, a misogynist amid misogynists." The plaintiff, an assistant, said that Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set. The Associated Press doesn't identify by name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to be named. Neither women has done so in this case. Vincent noted that Depardieu defended director Roman Polanski, accused in the still-unresolved Los Angeles criminal sexual assault case that prompted him to flee to Europe in 1978. Speaking Wednesday about his career and life, Depardieu mentioned Polanski as being "persecuted" for 50 years. "Some would say I'm from the old world. Certainly," he said. Depardieu says he's "not like that" Three other women — a journalist, a former costume designer and a comedian — also testified Wednesday in court that they were sexually assaulted by Depardieu in 2007, 2014 and 2015. Those cases are covered by the status of limitations. Depardieu has rejected the accusations since the beginning of the trial Monday, saying he's "not like that." He is being tried by a panel of three judges, not a jury, which is normal for such cases. The judges don't issue their verdict right away, but generally deliberate for weeks or months. Depardieu may have to face other legal proceedings soon. In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial.