Gérard Depardieu to face trial over rape, sexual assault allegations


PARIS (AP) — French film star Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to stand trial before a criminal court in Paris over allegations of rape and sexual assault against actor Charlotte Arnould.

“I feel relieved,” Arnould, 29, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, announcing that she had received the investigating judge’s indictment order. “The order restores a form of judicial truth. I think I’m having trouble realizing how huge this is.”

Arnould has said that the alleged crimes took place at Depardieu’s Paris home on Aug. 7 and Aug. 13, 2018. She was 22 and he was 69 at the time. He has denied wrongdoing.

“The acts of rape and sexual assault have been acknowledged,” Arnould said. “Now, we await the next steps.”

FILE – Actor Charlotte Arnould leaves actor Gerard Depardieu’s trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)

No date for the trial has been set yet, and there was no official comment from the court.

Arnould’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, said in a statement that she and Arnould were “relieved and confident,” describing the decision as a “moment of judicial truth” in the case, pending trial.

Prosecutors submitted a request last year for the case to proceed to trial.

The 76-year-old Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, has faced a series of accusations of wrongdoing against women in recent years.

He was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The case was widely seen as a post-#MeToo test for the country’s film industry. Arnould attended that trial.



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