French screen legend Gerard Depardieu was found guilty Tuesday on a charge of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set.
He was given a suspended jail term of 18 months at the conclusion of a trial in Paris and duly inscribed on the national sex offenders’ register.
The actor’s lawyer confirmed an appeal against the conviction is forthcoming.
French actress Fanny Ardant gestures as she arrives to attend the trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu in which he is charged with sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021, at the Paris criminal court on March 26, 2025. ( DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty)
Depardieu, 76, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was accused by the two women of groping them during work on a film. Depardieu denied any and all allegations against him, as Breitbart News reported.
The court in Paris found one of the accusers, a set designer named Amélie, had given consistent evidence while the actor’s accounts had changed over time. He has also been convicted of assaulting an assistant director called Sarah.
Depardieu was not present to hear the verdict but was instead working on a film set in the Azores.
This was Depardieu’s first trial on sexual assault charges.
The actor currently stands accused of assault or inappropriate behaviour by another 20 women with individual trial dates still to be set.
The BBC reports at the end of the trial in the French capital back in late March, prosecutor Laurent Guy said: “It’s perfectly possible to be an excellent actor and a great father – and still commit a crime.
“You are not here to pass judgment on French cinema. You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just as you would any other citizen.”
The prosecutor had asked for a suspended prison term of 18 months, as well as a £16,850 fine and registration on the sex-offenders’ list.
One of the plaintiffs, Amelie (C), talks to the press after the guilty verdict in the sexual assault trial of the French cinema icon Gerard Depardieu at a courthouse in Paris, on May 13, 2025. (JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Claude Vincent, representing one of the two women plaintiffs, described Depardieu as a “misogynist” and a “case-study in sexism”. The BBC report notes the actor’s declaration of innocence:
Depardieu denied the allegations, saying only that he might have touched the women accidentally or to keep his balance.
At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said: “My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults.
“A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It’s like being in a science fiction film, except it’s not science fiction. It’s life.”
Depardieu said he had not worked as an actor for three years since the sexual allegations against him began to circulate.
He is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in French cinema’s response to the #MeToo movement.
Brigitte Bardot previously defended Depardieu and another accused French actor by saying they should be allowed to “get on with their lives.”
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