April 29 (UPI) — French actor Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to face a criminal trial before the end of the year after two women accused him of sexually assaulting them on a 2021 film set.
Depardieu, 75, was questioned for several hours Monday at a Paris police station before being “summoned to appear before criminal court” in October for “sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021” against “two victims, on the set of the film ‘Les Volets Verts,'” according to a statement from the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
The Oscar-nominated actor has denied any wrongdoing and claims any relationships were consensual. His lawyer, Christian Saint-Palais confirmed Monday’s questioning and said Depardieu has been released.
“The police custody is over. He is no longer held in the police station,” Saint-Palais said.
According to a formal complaint filed in February, a set designer claimed Depardieu assaulted her in a corridor during the making of the film. She said he grabbed her so she could not move and made obscene comments to her as he assaulted her.
“He grabbed her, trapped her between his legs and touched her body up to her breasts,” her lawyer told BFMTV. “She felt completely powerless, incapable of escaping this trap.”
According to the complaint, she said Depardieu’s bodyguards had to pull him off of her.
“Additionally, G. Depardieu is under investigation for the offenses of rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in August 2018 against actress Charlotte Arnould,” the prosecutor said in Monday’s statement.
“The investigating judge concluded their inquires on April 17, and forwarded the case to the Paris prosecutor’s office to gather their recommendations on the next steps to take,” the prosecutor added.
Arnould says Depardieu raped her at his Paris home in 2018, when she was 22.
Another case by actor Hélène Carras was dropped because it was past the statute of limitations.
Depardieu has appeared in more than 200 films and is known for his roles in “Green Card,” “Life of Pi,” and “The Man in the Iron Mask.” He was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his leading role in “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
While denying sexual assault accusations by more than a dozen women, Depardieu said he had done nothing wrong in an open letter titled, “Never, ever have I abused a woman.” The French actor called it a “lynching” orchestrated by a “media court.”
