Gérard Depardieu faces verdict in sexual assault trial seen as #MeToo test

PARIS – French film legend Gérard Depardieu is set to receive a verdict on Tuesday in a closely watched sexual assault case. Two women say the 76-year-old actor groped them on the set of the 2022 film Les Volets Verts.

In France, the trial has been widely seen as more than a case against one man. Women’s rights advocates say it’s a test of how seriously the country takes sexual violence, and whether its long-delayed #MeToo reckoning is finally beginning.

“If there’s a guilty verdict, it will be a victory not just for the women in court, but for all others who were silenced by time,” Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, a lawyer representing one of the two plaintiffs, told NPR the day before the verdict.

Durrieu-Diebolt says more than 20 women have come forward with accusations against Depardieu — including groping, harassment, and rape — but only two cases fell within France’s statute of limitations to make it to court.

The case was originally expected to be heard in late 2024, but it was postponed multiple times, first due to scheduling issues, and then for medical reasons cited by the defense.

The trial finally opened in March 2025 and lasted four days.

During the proceedings, Depardieu testified that if he ever touched the women, it wasn’t with sexual intent. He admitted to using vulgar language on set, and said he now avoids female assistants in dressing rooms so as not to be misunderstood.

“I try not to be heard by the new world,” he told the court. “I think my time is done.”

In October 2023, Depardieu published an open letter in Le Figaro denying all allegations. “Never, ever have I abused a woman,” he wrote, calling the accusations a “lynching that has been reserved for me.”

Depardieu’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, was accused of using aggressive tactics in his questioning of the plaintiffs during the trial, prompting nearly 200 French lawyers to sign an open letter condemning the defense strategy as sexist and intimidating.

Prosecutors have asked for an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of up to €200,000 euros (roughly $221,000).

The actor has continued working throughout the legal proceedings and received public support from some high-profile figures, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking on national television in December 2023, Macron described himself as “a great admirer of Gérard Depardieu,” and warned against what he called a “witch hunt” when asked whether the actor should be stripped of his Legion of Honor, France’s highest award of merit.

The comments drew backlash, and Macron later clarified that he would be “uncompromising” in the fight against rape and what he called “a culture of brutality.”

A wider reckoning

For many women’s rights advocates, the Depardieu case is part of a much larger pattern.

In January, a French parliamentary report found that sexual violence and harassment remain “endemic” in the country’s film and TV industry.

It also noted a climate of “collective denial” and warned that France’s legal system may be failing victims.

Another high-profile rape investigation involving Depardieu, brought by actress Charlotte Arnould, remains open.

“It’s a test of the moral independence of the justice system,” said Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, a lawyer and analyst focused on systemic responses to sexual violence.

“Depardieu has become a symbol of what we no longer want to see in France: this, ‘bawdiness,’ this so-called ‘gallantry,’ which, in reality, is harassment.”