Gérard Depardieu charged with rape and sexual assault

The French actor Gérard Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault, allegedly committed in 2018 against an actor in her 20s, a judicial source told AFP on Tuesday.

An initial investigation into the rape accusations against Depardieu, 72, was dropped in 2019 for lack of evidence but reopened last summer, leading to criminal charges filed in December, the source said.

The actor accuses Depardieu of having raped and assaulted her at his Paris home in August 2018.

Depardieu’s lawyer, Hervé Temime, told AFP that Depardieu, who is free but under judicial supervision, “completely rejects the accusations”.

According to a source close to the case, Depardieu is a friend of the woman’s family.

Some reports have suggested Depardieu and the actor were rehearsing a scene of a theatre play, but the source said “there was nothing professional about the encounter”.

The woman’s lawyer, Élodie Tuaillon-Hibon, told AFP that she hoped her client’s “private sphere will be respected” as the case unfolds.