Gerard Depardieu’s trial on sexual assault charges set to begin in France

French actor Gerard Depardieu was expected in court Monday, with a trial over his alleged sexual assaults on a film set due to begin in a case that places one of the world’s best known movie stars at the heart of France’s broader reckoning over sexual violence.

A towering figure of French cinema, Depardieu has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years. Depardieu, 76, has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and this would be the first case for which he would be standing trial.

“He has obviously denied it from the beginning,” Depardieu’s lawyer, Jeremie Assous, said on French radio RMC on Monday morning.

Assous said the actor would be present at the trial, which is expected to last up to three days, after the postponement of an initial hearing last October due to Depardieu’s ill health.

“Like any person facing trial, he has the right to speak. He will finally speak,” Assous said.

Prosecutors allege the assaults against the two women — whose identities have not been revealed — took place during the filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (The Green Shutters).

They accuse Depardieu of groping one of the women on the film set, pulling her towards him and trapping her with his legs before touching her waist, hips and breasts while saying obscene words. Three people witnessed the scene, prosecutors say.

They say the second woman was groped by Depardieu on set and in the street.

A lawyer for one of the women told Reuters her client had been scared to come forward against Depardieu, while the second woman’s lawyer did not reply to requests for comment.

Depardieu’s trial could be the highest-profile #MeToo case to come before the courts in France, a country where the protest movement over sexual violence has struggled to gain the same traction as in the United States.

Recently, however, there have been signs this might change.

Gisele Pelicot became a global feminist icon last year after she waived her rights to anonymity during the trial of her former husband, who was convicted of drugging her and inviting dozens of men over to their home to sexually abuse her.

Then, last month, a French court found film director Christophe Ruggia guilty of sexually abusing actress Adele Haenel when she was underage.