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PARIS (AP) — French actor Gerard Depardieu faces another sexual assault allegation, this time by a film set designer who alleges he groped her during the 2021 filming.
In the complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the 53-year-old decorator alleges that Depardieu grabbed her and massaged her waist, stomach and breasts during the filming of “Les Volets verts” or “The Green Shutters,” said lawyer Carine Durrieu Diebolt. Monday. Other people intervened to stop him, the lawyer added.
Two lawyers for Depardieu, 75, did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment and their offices said they were not available to speak by phone.
The latest accusations came after French actress Judith Godrèche called on the French film industry to “Face the truth” about sexual violence and physical abuse during a live broadcast Friday of the César Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.
Godrèche, who recently accused two film directors of rape and sexual abuse when she was a teenager, condemned French cinema for its silence in the face of abuse in the industry.
“We can decide that men accused of rape will no longer rule (French) cinema,” Godrèche told a silent audience. “Let’s not play heroines on screen only to find ourselves hiding in the woods in real life.”
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He was preliminarily handed over rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following accusations by actress Charlotte Arnould.
Depardieu denies wrongdoing. In an open letter from October, he said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”
Durrieu Diebolt said the statement was traumatic for her client and led her to file a lawsuit against him.
Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador of French cinema and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.
Despite the accusations against him, his fame has earned Depardieu words of praise from the highest levels of the French government.
“He makes France proud,” President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the France 5 television channel that was broadcast on December 20, days after a documentary aired on French television in which 16 women accused Depardieu harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them.
In January, Macron attempted to walk back his comments defending Depardieu, saying he should have mentioned his unequivocal support for victims of abuse.
“I haven’t said enough how important it is for women who are victims of abuse to speak out and how crucial this fight is for me,” Macron said, maintaining his defense of Depardieu’s alleged innocence.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati on Friday criticized the country’s cinema for “collectively turning a blind eye for decades” to sexual violence.
“This should be the beginning of a deep soul-searching for French cinema,” Dati said in an interview with the online magazine The French Film. “There is no impunity in the name of art.”
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Surk reported from Nice, France.