Paris, France.
popular the English actor Gérard Depardieu, 72 years old, He was charged on December 16 with “rape” and “sexual assault.” that he allegedly committed in 2018 against a young actress, a source close to the case revealed yesterday to AFP, information confirmed by a judicial official.
The court reopened in the summer of 2020 the investigation into these events, reported in 2018 and rejected in the first instance.
The applicant had reported to the police at the end of August 2018 after being raped twice at the star’s Parisian house some days ago.
In an interrogation on 16 December, the magistrate in charge of the case considered that there were “serious or accidental indications” that the plaintiff had been able to commit the alleged acts and for this reason accused of “rape” and “sexual assault”explained the AFP.
Contacted by AFP, Depardieu’s lawyer, Hervé Témime, “regretted that this information was made public”.
iconic and controversial actor, who is at large without any judicial review “totally rejects the acts of which he is accusedSaid his lawyer.
The applicant, who is less than 30 years old, accuses her of several rape and sexual assault which took place on August 7 and 13, 2018 at the actor’s Parisian house.
After the Paris prosecutor’s office closed the investigation in June 2019, the actress had relaunched her complaint and an investigating judge reopened the investigation in August 2020.
According to a source close to the investigation, the actor is a friend of the victim’s family and in the past there was a fight between the two at a police station in the French capital.
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“There is nothing related to professional activity” in the case, the source said, despite the fact that the French press explained that the attacks took place during a theatrical rehearsal.
When contacted by AFP, the victim’s lawyer, Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, called for “the privacy and privacy of her client.”
A star surrounded by controversy
After becoming known in 1974 with Balloons by Bertrand Blier and winning César for Best Actor for his role in The last meter (1980) by François Truffaut, Depardieu was known for his interpretations of emblematic figures of French literature such as Cyrano de Bergerac or Jean Valjean de The miserable.
Father of four, including actor Guillaume Depardieu, who died in 2008, Gérard Depardieu is one of the most famous French actors in the world and was often involved in controversy.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him Russian nationality in early 2013, and in 2019 the actor converted to Orthodox Christianity.
In addition to his successful film career, he is also an entrepreneur in the food and wine industry and has had a modest career as a singer.
After the release of #MeToo in 2017, several French film figures have been accused of rape, including directors Christophe Ruggia and Luc Besson.