Legendary actors wait for France's #MeToo to wait for trial judgment: NPR

French actor Gérard De Pardieu rested during the trial of two women in a 2021 film.

Aurelien Morissard/AP

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Aurelien Morissard/AP

Paris – French film legend Gérard Depardieu will be sentenced in a closely watched sexual assault case on Tuesday. Two women say the 76-year-old actor grops on them in the 2022 movie Green blinds.

In France, the trial is widely considered a case against a person. Women's rights advocates say it's a test of how much attention the country has taken to sexual violence and its long-delayed #MeToo estimates are finally beginning.

“If there is a guilty sentence, it is not only a woman in the court, but a victory for all women who are silent by time,” Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the attorney representing one of the two plaintiffs, told NPR the day before the sentence.

Durrieu-Diebolt said more than 20 women filed charges against Depardieu, including groping, harassment and rape, but only two cases fall under French restrictive regulations to bring them to court.

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

The trial finally began in March 2025 and lasted for four days.

During the lawsuit, DePardieu testified that if he had ever touched the woman, there would be no sexual intention. He admitted to using vulgar language on the scene and said he now avoids female assistants in the locker room to avoid being 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 was published Open letter In Lefigaro denied all charges. “Never, I have abused a woman,” he wrote, alleging that it was “a lynching reserved for me.”

Depardieu's attorney Jérémie Assous is accused of proposing aggressive tactics against the plaintiffs during the trial, prompting nearly 200 French lawyers sign Condemns defense strategies as sexist and intimidating.

Prosecutors demanded a 18-month sentence and a fine of up to 200,000 euros (about $221,000).

The actor continued to work throughout the legal process 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 that when asked whether he should have deprived the honorary award of France's highest award, which he called “witch hunting.”

Comments caused a rebound, and later Macron clarify In his opposition to rape and what he calls “a cruel culture”, he will “uncompromising”.

A broader estimate

For many women's rights advocates, the Depardieu case is part of a larger model.

In January, a report from the French parliament found that sexual violence and harassment in the country's film and television industry remained “popular”.

It also pointed to the atmosphere of “collective denial” and warned that France's legal system might have failed the victims.

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

“This is a test of the moral independence of the judicial system,” said Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, a lawyer and analyst.

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