A Paris court has found French movie star Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexual assault.
The actor received an 18-month suspended prison sentence the morning of May 13 for sexual violence against two women in 2021.
In response to the verdict, Depardieu’s lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
During the 2021 filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Schutters) in Paris, Depardieu sexually assaulted two women, the court determined.
One victim, a 54-year-old set designer named Amélie, testified Depardieu made obscene remarks before forcibly trapping her between his legs and groping her waist and breasts. A bodyguard intervened to stop the assault.
A second victim, a 34-year-old assistant director, reported multiple instances of groping and persistent sexual comments both on set and in public. Depardieu denied these allegations, claiming his behaviour was misinterpreted and his actions were not sexual.
The court found the actor guilty of the alleged facts and requested his registration in the Register of Perpetrators of Sexual and Violent Offences (Fijais).
The suspended sentence came after “taking into consideration the age of Gérard Depardieu, 76 years old, his criminal record which bears traces of four convictions, his deteriorating state of health, [and] the psychiatric expertise… ” the judge said.
Depardieu was a controversial figure known for his provocative tone, his outspokenness, his foul language and his saucy jokes.
Prosecutors had asked for an 18-month suspended prison sentence — the same penalty the court ultimately handed down. The lawyer for the 76-year-old actor had earlier pleaded for his acquittal, describing him instead as a victim of “intimidation”.
Gérard Depardieu faces more court cases to come. In December 2020, he was indicted following a rape complaint filed by actress Charlotte Arnould, who alleged Depardieu raped her twice in August 2018 at his Paris residence. At the time, he was 69 years old, she was 19.
Initially, the investigation was closed in 2019 due to insufficient evidence. However, it was reopened in August 2020 after Arnould filed a new complaint. In August 2024, the Paris public prosecutor’s office requested Depardieu be tried for rape and sexual assault in connection with Arnould’s allegations. As of May 2025, no trial date has been publicly announced for the case.
An icon of French cinema, Depardieu starred in over 250 films since 1967, and was made a Chevalier of both France’s Légion d’honneur and its Ordre national du Mérite.
However, his popularity has declined in recent years, amid a torrent of sexual abuse allegations surfaced since 2018. In 2013, in the midst of a dispute with the French government over his tax bill, Depardieu received Russian citizenship as a gift by Vladimir Putin.
