Connect with us

Published

on

There is intense interest in the trial of Gerard Depardieu in Paris.

Warning: This article contains details of alleged sexual assaults that some readers might find distressing.

Members of the public queued to get access to the criminal court, despite the fact Depardieu‘s lawyer had said that the actor was too ill to attend on Monday.

There wasn’t a free seat in the courtroom as proceedings began.

In the front row, flanked by their lawyers, were the women who allege the French film star sexually assaulted them on the set of a movie in 2021.

To their left, the slick city legal team representing the 75-year-old actor.

Depardieu is accused of two sexual assaults. If found guilty it could carry a sentence of five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£62,000).

Both women allege that on separate occasions the actor pinned them between his legs and touched their genitals, buttocks and chest over their clothes, the court heard.

One of them said that while she was a set decorator for the film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters), she heard Depardieu make several sexual comments.

She alleges that one day as she passed him in a corridor, he had grabbed her, pulled her towards him, pinned her down with his legs, and kneaded her on the waist, hips and chest, accompanying his gestures with obscene comments.

Jeremie Assous, lawyer of French actor Gerard Depardieu, answers to media as he arrives to attend Depardieu's trial for two sexual assaults allegedly committed on the set of the film “Les Volets Verts”, at the courthouse in Paris, France, October 28, 2024. REUTERS
Image:
Depardieu’s lawyer Jeremie Assous answers media questions as he arrives at the hearing. Pic: Reuters

The second woman stated that Depardieu had touched her buttocks in the street, then touched her chest a few days later on the set of the shoot, and touched her buttocks again on another occasion.

The actor denies all the allegations.

Read more from Sky News:
Tommy Robinson jailed after admitting contempt of court
Police in China arrest people in Halloween costume
Starmer confirms budget tax rises

Depardieu, who has appeared in more than 200 films, is considered an icon of French cinema.

He has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen other women and is embroiled in a separate case where he is accused of rape.

In an open letter, he said has never “abused a woman”.

Gerard Depardieu. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The court decided that his trial would be postponed until March next year because of his health concerns.

Depardieu’s legal team has asked for a six-month delay to the proceedings with a health check in three months after a doctor confirmed he was suffering from issues including high blood pressure and complications from diabetes.

They said his health means he currently cannot sit for long periods of time and the stress would affect his ongoing health issue.

The actor’s legal team also demanded that more time be set aside for the trial so they can call further witnesses.

On several occasions, the presiding judge asked Depardieu’s lawyer not to stray from the topic of the possible postponement.

Lawyers for the women told the panel of judges that the delay should be as short as possible to avoid adding to their trauma.

They also asked for further independent health checks to be conducted.

The actor has been offered support by a group of actors and directors, who said that an attack on Depardieu represented “an attack on art itself”.

The trial is seen as a huge moment for the growing MeToo movement in France, with Depardieu the most high-profile person to be accused.

MeToo, which became well known in America during the Harvey Weinstein rape case, exists to highlight sexual violence against women and to push for more action by authorities.

It has often placed a focus on areas such as filmmaking – industries that have long been dominated by men.

French President Emmanuel Macron has described Depardieu as “the pride of France”, sparking an angry response from campaigners who claimed he was undermining efforts to protect women from violence.

French actress Lea Seydoux, known for her role in the Bond film No Time To Die, described Mr Macron’s words as “crazy” and said “it gives a very bad image of our country”.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

Published

on

By

Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
Image:
Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas
Image:
Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

Kyle Shaw leaves Liverpool Crown Court, where he is charged with stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.
Pic: PA
Image:
Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA

Read more from Sky News:
Cast of Beatles films revealed

Tractor crashes into houses in Cheshire

Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

Published

on

By

Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

Gary Glitter has been made bankrupt after failing to pay more than £500,000 in damages to a woman he abused when she was 12 years old.

She sued the disgraced singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after he was found guilty of attacking her and two other schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

Glitter, 80, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 and released in 2023 but was recalled to prison less than six weeks later after breaching his parole conditions.

A judge awarded the woman £508,800, including £381,000 in lost earnings and £7,800 for future therapy and treatment, saying she was subjected to abuse “of the most serious kind”.

The court heard she had not worked for decades due to the trauma of being repeatedly raped and “humiliated” by the singer.

Gary Glitter has lost a parole board bid to be freed from jail.
Pic:Met Police/PA
Image:
Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015. Pic: Met Police/PA

Glitter was made bankrupt last month at the County Court at Torquay and Newton Abbot, in Devon – the county where he is reportedly serving his sentence in Channings Wood prison, in Newton Abbot.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing the woman, said: “We confirm that Gadd has been made bankrupt following our client’s application.

More on Crime

“As he has done throughout, Gadd has refused to cooperate with the process and continues to treat his victims with contempt.

“We hope and trust that the parole board will take his behaviour into account in any future parole applications, as it clearly demonstrates that he has never changed, shows no remorse and remains a serious risk to the public.”

Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after he admitted possessing around 4,000 indecent images of children.

He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002, and in March 2006 was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam where he spent two-and-a-half years in prison.

Read more from Sky News:
UK set to be hotter than Greece or Spain
Mother killed by drunk-driver still on road over test delays

His sentence for the 2016 convictions expires in February 2031.

Glitter was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February 2023 after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.

But he was back behind bars weeks later after reportedly trying to access the dark web and images of children.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films

Published

on

By

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes' four Beatles films

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan will play Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles films – with a Stranger Things star also portraying one of the Fab Four.

The two Irish actors will be joined by London-born performers Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

The cast for the Sam Mendes project was revealed at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, with all four appearing on stage and taking a bow together in Beatles style.

Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan and Harris Dickinson stand onstage to promote the upcoming "The Beatles" movies during a Sony Pictures presentation.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
(L-R) Mescal, Quinn, Keoghan and Dickinson appeared together at the announcement. Pic: Reuters

Mendes is making four interconnected films – one from the perspective of each of the band members – and they are all set to be released “in proximity” to each other in April 2028.

It marks the first time The Beatles and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.

Playing McCartney is another big role for 29-year-old Mescal, who recently starred in the Gladiator sequel and was nominated for an Oscar in 2023 for Aftersun.

Barry Keoghan – who also got an Oscar nod for The Banshees of Inisherin – will portray the other surviving Beatles member, Ringo Starr.

More on The Beatles

The Beatles
Image:
Pic: PA

Meanwhile, Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn, who appeared with long hair as Eddie Munson in the fourth series, takes up the role of George Harrison.

Harris Dickinson has the challenge of stepping into the shoes of perhaps the most famous Beatle, John Lennon.

The 28-year-old recently starred in erotic thriller Babygirl with Nicole Kidman and also appeared in satire Triangle of Sadness.

Mendes told the industry audience at CinemaCon there is “still plenty to explore” despite the Beatles’ rise having being well chronicled.

Read more from Sky News:
Prince Andrew accuser has ‘days to live’
NASA astronaut takes some blame for getting stranded

The Oscar-winning British director is known for films including American Beauty, First World War movie 1917, and Bond outings Skyfall and Spectre.

Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman said the close release of all four films in three years’ time will be “the first bingeable theatrical experience”.

“We are going to dominate the culture that month,” he added.

Continue Reading

Trending