Gérard Depardieu publicly denied ever raping or sexually assaulting anyone in a letter published Monday by a French newspaper.
Depardieu, 74, was charged in 2020 with raping a young actress at his home. In a French news investigation three years later, 13 women described being sexually assaulted and harassed by Depardieu. None of those women has filed criminal cases against Depardieu.
The veteran actor previously denied the allegations. He provided his version of events in Monday’s public letter.
“A woman came to my house for the first time, with a light step, going up to my room of her own free will. She says today that she was raped there. She came back a second time,” Depardieu wrote. “She wanted to sing Barbara’s songs at the Cirque d’Hiver with me. I told her no… She filed a complaint.”
French police first investigated the case in 2018, the same year as the reported assault, but dropped it in 2019. However, Depardieu was indicted in December 2020 on the charges.
The indictment had little effect on Depardieu’s show business career, as he continued acting and performing his show, “Depardieu Chante Barbara.” But in April 2023, French outlet Mediapart published an investigation in which 13 women detailed disturbing behavior from Depardieu.
One woman working as an extra on the 2015 film “Big House” said Depardieu attempted to finger her on set, as she “felt his fingers trying to slip in to get to my knickers.”
Depardieu again denied all the allegations. In his letter on Monday, he said, “I’ve often done that which others wouldn’t dare to do: pushed limits, shaken certitudes, habits on the set between two takes, between two tensions… to get a laugh.”
A lawyer for Depardieu’s alleged rape victim told Deadline that the actor’s version of events “will certainly not be the one that will be upheld by the courts.”
