Why is actor Gerard Depardieu on trial – and what does it mean for #MeToo in France?
One of France’s most successful actors has been accused of sexually assaulting two women on the set of one of his films.
Gerard Depardieu, 76, has starred in more than 200 films over five decades, winning two best lead actor awards at the Cesars, as well as being nominated for an Oscar and 15 other Cesars.
On Tuesday, judges at the Tribunal de Paris are expected to reveal whether he has been found guilty of the two counts of sexual assault alleged to have happened in 2021, both of which he denies.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison or a fine of €75,000 (£62,000).
While the #MeToo movement ultimately led to the downfall of Hollywood film director Harvey Weinstein in the US, France’s #balancestonporc equivalent has struggled to gain momentum.
But Depardieu’s court case, coming soon after that of Gisele Pelicot, who waived her anonymity to reveal her husband had orchestrated her drugging and rape by more than 50 men, is proof for many that France is finally getting its own #MeToo moment.
Here, Sky News looks at the case – and what it means for women’s rights in France.
Gerard Depardieu arrives at court. Pic Reuters
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Depardieu arrives for sexual assault trial.
What is he accused of?
Depardieu is accused of sexually assaulting two female crew members on the set of the film Les Volets Verts (Green Shutters) in 2021.
The anonymous women both claim the actor forced himself on them on multiple occasions, touching them over their clothes, the court was told.
Pic Reuters
The first woman said in one incident, as she passed him in a corridor he grabbed her, pinned her down between his legs and rubbed himself against her waist, hips, and chest, making accompanying gestures and lewd comments.
The other woman claimed he touched her buttocks in public on more than one occasion, as well as touching her chest.
Depardieu denies the allegations and appeared in person at the Tribunal de Paris, telling the court: “I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity.”
But he added: “I’m not touching the butts of women.”
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One of the alleged victims claimed he behaved “like a madman” who took “pleasure in frightening me”.
Depardieu responded: “I understand perfectly if she’s a bit upset. I am capable of trash talk… I don’t have to talk like that, get angry like that, voila.”
He also claimed that he had been in a “bad mood” because the set was hot, which was difficult for him, being overweight.
The trial was due to start in October but was postponed until March after Depardieu’s legal team asked for a six-month delay due to his poor health. Suffering complications from diabetes and high blood pressure, they said he was unable to sit for long periods.
In Cannes in 1997. Pic: Reuters
Separately, he also remains under investigation for the alleged rape and sexual assault of a 22-year-old actress. The woman claims Depardieu sexually assaulted her twice at his home.
She originally reported the alleged incidents in 2018 but the charges were dropped in 2019 following a nine-month investigation.
However, the case was reopened in October 2020 when the woman refiled the complaint.
In March 2022, Depardieu’s bid to get the case thrown out was rejected by Paris’s court of appeal, with authorities saying he would remain under investigation until the matter is either sent to trial or dismissed. He denies the allegations.
In April 2023, investigative French media outlet Mediapart reported claims of 13 women who said Depardieu sexually assaulted or harassed them between 2004 and 2022.
In an open letter in the newspaper Le Figaro that October, Depardieu said he had “never abused a woman”.
A group of 50 French stars, including singer and wife of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Carla Bruni, wrote their own open letter defending him in Le Monde, condemning what they described as his “lynching” and describing him as “probably the greatest” French actor.
A week later, President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “manhunt” for Depardieu, calling him an “immense actor” who “makes France proud”.
A women’s rights activist during a protest in January 2024 in Paris. Pic: AP
Who is Gerard Depardieu?
Depardieu was born in Chateauroux, central France in 1948. He left home at the age of 16 for Paris, where he got his first acting job with a travelling theatre company.
After a few minor film roles, his break came in 1973 with a lead part in Bertrand Blier’s film Les Valseuses (Going Places) – alongside his former theatre friends Patrick Dewaere and Miou Miou.
From there his popularity boomed and he became one of the most prolific French actors of the 1980s and 1990s.
He won awards for his roles in The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac, which also received an Oscar nomination. He was made president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 1992.
His success also saw him become a Chevalier of France’s Legion d’Honneur and its Ordre national du Merite – two of the country’s most prestigious honours.
Former French President Jacques Chevalier awards Depardieu the Chevallier de la Legion d’Honneur at the Elysee Palace in 1996. Pic: Reuters
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Across roughly 250 films, he has worked with more than 150 directors, including Jean-Luc Godard and Ridley Scott.
He became close friends with Robert De Niro after they starred together in Bernardo Bertolucci’s film 1900 in 1976.
Depardieu married fellow actor Elisabeth Depardieu in 1971. She starred alongside him in Jean de Florette and Manon Of The Spring in 1986. They had two children, who both became actors. Their son Guillaume died from pneumonia aged 37 in 2008. The couple divorced in 1996.
He announced his retirement from acting in 2005, claiming he had made “enough” films and wished to pursue other things.
In 2012 he moved to Belgium to avoid paying taxes in France. He wrote an open letter to the then prime minister, saying he was surrendering his French passport because he wanted “nothing to do” with his home country and the government was trying to “punish success”.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi in 2013. Pic: AP
Vladimir Putin personally signed an executive order to give him Russian citizenship in 2013. Two years later his films were banned in Ukraine over comments he made questioning the country’s sovereignty as an independent state. He has since condemned Russia’s war there.
He also claims to have been given citizenship by the United Arab Emirates.
In 2023 he was stripped of his National Order of Quebec after a documentary revealed him making lewd comments and sexual gestures on a trip to North Korea in 2018, which the region’s premier described as “shocking”.
At the Netflix premiere of the series Marseille in the city in 2016. Pic: Reuters
Why is the Depardieu case so important in France?
The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the US saw women in the creative industries calling out sexual harassment and assault by their male counterparts.
But it “didn’t really take off in France” in the same way, Sarah McGrath, chief executive of Women For Women France, an organisation fighting against gender-based violence, tells Sky News.
While she saw colleagues around the world “thrilled that victims could finally feel confident to talk about the crimes they’d be subjected to”, she says in France “we had a very different experience”.
In 2018, dozens of female French stars and intellectuals signed an “anti-MeToo manifesto”, condemning the movement as a “witch hunt” and defending men’s sexual freedom to proposition women.
Although some, notably Depardieu’s co-star and friend Catherine Deneuve, have publicly U-turned on the issue, it demonstrated a resistance to change in French society.
With actor and co-star Catherine Deneuve in Cannes in 1984. Pic: AP
Blanche Sabbah, a French feminist activist and comic book author, says: “We love to talk about being the cultural exception in France.
“We have this idea that if you are some kind of artistic genius then you are less accountable for bad behaviour – and that we’re more sexually liberated – and don’t concern ourselves with moral panics like in the US. I think that stopped the [MeToo] movement in its tracks.”
Ms McGrath describes this “cultural exception” as “an attitude that a man’s reputation and livelihood is more important than victims”.
Both women also point to a “general distrust” of claimants and “false ideas” they are bypassing the courts and telling their stories in the media to “get money”.
“It’s simply not true and comes from a lack of understanding that the French justice system does not play a protective role for victims of sexual violence,” she says.
“Victims are actually more likely to come out with debts of thousands of euros if they go through the justice system, which far exceeds any compensation they might get.”
Gisele Pelicot outside court after her husband’s conviction. Pic: Reuters
But while the “balancestonporc” – report your pig – hashtag struggled to gain momentum in 2018, the women say they have seen a shift – particularly following the case of Gisele Pelicot and the conviction of her husband for raping and inviting at least 50 other men to rape her while she was drugged and unconscious.
“It’s taken time, but finally we’re getting somewhere,” Ms Sabbah says. “Gisele’s case serves as a reminder that our culture has a huge influence on how we behave.”
Those found guilty in the Pelicot case were aged between 20 and 70 and included a journalist, nurse, firefighters, and a DJ.
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Mass rape trial that ignited a movement
“She has proven that this is the problem of every man – that what you think your favourite movie star can do serves as an argument for justifying what crimes you would commit as a ‘normal’ person’,” Ms Sabbah adds.
Regardless of the outcome of the Depardieu case, both women agree that his prosecution represents a “huge step forward” for women’s rights and victims of gender-based violence.
“There have been three or four convictions [of men for gender-based violence] recently, so I think the way those cases are perceived now is different to how it was in 2018,” Ms Sabbah says.
“We have gone from ‘classement sans suite’ (no further action) to movie stars on trial.”
Race Across The World contestant Sam Gardiner has died at the age of 24 in a car crash, his family has said.
In a statement, his mother Jo – who appeared on the 2019 series with him – and his father Andrew said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Sam in a terrible accident.
“Sam left us far too soon, and whilst words will never fully capture the light, joy and energy he brought into our lives, we hold on to the memories that made him so special.
“Sam was adored by his family. As a son, brother and nephew, he was loyal, funny and fiercely protective.”
They added that taking part in Race Across The World “opened his eyes to the wonder of adventure and travel”.
Pic: Greater Manchester Police
The statement continued: “He was willing to go wherever the trail might lead and he touched everyone he met on the road.
“Sam brought warmth, laughter and a smattering of chaos wherever he went. He leaves behind a huge hole in our hearts.
“He found great happiness working as a landscape gardener on the west coast of Scotland. He leaves behind a huge hole in our hearts. We will miss him endlessly, but we’ll also remember him with smiles, tall tales, and a depth of love that will never fade.”
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the car accident happened on the A34 in Gatley, near Cheadle on Monday night. He died from his injuries on Thursday, they said.
“Emergency services attended the scene after a vehicle was reported to have left the carriageway and rolled before landing on its side,” a spokesperson said.
The 24-year-old was the only person in his car and no other vehicles were involved, they added.
A spokesperson for the makers of Race Across The World said: “Everyone who worked with him and indeed everyone who watched Sam could see just how precious and transformative the trip was for both him and his mum, Jo.
“Sam embraced the seven-week trip with an energy, love and a determination that saw the pair enjoy adventures across Mexico to Argentina making audiences fall in love with them and their special bond as a result.
“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to his parents, Andrew and Jo; his brothers, William and Charlie; his step mum Justine; his family and friends.”
Entertainment
Mountainhead: Succession writer Jesse Armstrong’s new film takes aim at tech billionaires
Succession writer Jesse Armstrong says he hopes his new film about toxic tech billionaires can be a receptacle for anyone who is “feeling wonky about the world”.
Now making his film directorial debut with Mountainhead, starring Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman, Armstrong has shifted his focus from cut-throat media moguls to a group of billionaire friends meeting up to compare bank balances against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis they appear to have stoked.
Speaking to Sky News about the project, he said: “For a little while I poured some of my anxieties and feelings into it… and I hope it can be a receptacle for other people if they’re feeling wonky about the world, maybe this can be somewhere they put some of their anxieties for a while.”
Cory Michael Smith (R) plays Venis in Mountainhead. Pic: Mountainhead/HBO
Jesse Armstrong with Ramy Youssef. Pic: Mountainhead/HBO
Few television writers achieve widespread recognition beyond their work, but Armstrong – the man behind Succession, one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of the past decade – has become a household name and is today one of the world’s hottest properties in high-end drama.
“If there was more self-reflection and self-knowledge, there probably wouldn’t be such amenable targets for comedy and satire,” he admits.
Long before he gifted viewers with the likes of manipulative Logan Roy and sycophantically ambitious Tom Wambsgans, back in the beginning, there was selfish slacker Jez and the perennially insecure Mark on his breakthrough hit Peep Show.
“I love comedy, you know, it’s my way in,” he explains. “I think I like it because… the mixture that you get of tragedy and absurdity strikes me as a sort of a true portrayal of the world… and I just like jokes, you know, that’s probably the basic reason.”
After putting his pen down on the finale of Succession, walking away with 19 Emmys and nine Golden Globes, attention was always going to be drawn to what Armstrong did next.
“I had a couple of other things that I thought I would write first and this kind of snuck up on me as an area of interest,” Armstrong says.
“After I’d listened to a bunch of tech podcasts and Ted talks, I sort of needed somewhere to put the tone of voice that was increasingly in my head.”
Tapping into the unease surrounding big tech, he wrote, shot and edited Mountainhead in less than six months.
Jesse Armstrong says the film’s theme ‘snuck up on me as an area of interest’
Capturing the audience mood
Explaining why he worked so fast, he said he “wanted to be in the same sort of mood as my audience, if possible”.
While he insists there aren’t “any direct map-ons” to the billionaire tech moguls, which frequently make headlines in real life, he joked he’s “happy… to play a game of ‘where did I steal what from who?'” with viewers.
“You know… Elon Musk… I think at least people would see some Mark Zuckerberg and, I don’t know, some Sam Altman, there is a bunch of those people in all the [film’s] different characters… and we’ve stolen liberally from the world in terms of the stories we’ve given them.”
Steve Carell is tasked with delivering some of the film’s most memorable lines as the satire explores the dynamic between those holding the power and those pulling the strings.
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“People who lack a certain degree of self-knowledge are good for comedy….and if there was more self-reflection and self-knowledge, there probably wouldn’t be such amenable targets for comedy and satire.
“You know, living in a gated community and travelling by private jet certainly doesn’t help you to understand what life is like for most people.”
Armstrong’s gift for using humour to savagely dramatic ends is arguably what makes him one of the most sought-after writers working today.
Behind his ability to craft some of the sharpest and scathing dialogue on our screens, he views what he does as more than getting a laugh.
“I do believe in the sort of nobility of the idea, that this is a good way to portray the world because this is how it feels a lot of the time.”
Mountainhead will air on Sky and streaming service NOW on 1 June.
Entertainment
Taylor Swift buys back rights to all master recordings – but it’s bad news for Reputation fans
Taylor Swift has bought back all the rights to her master recordings – but has suggested she won’t be re-releasing her Reputation album.
“All the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” the star announced on her official website.
“I’ve been bursting tears of joy… ever since I found out this is really happening.”
The pop star had originally lost the rights to her first six albums in 2019 when her first record label, Big Machine, sold them to music executive Scooter Braun.
After she learned Braun had acquired her musical catalogue, she opened up about it in a lengthy Tumblr post, blaming him for being complicit in Kanye West’s “incessant, manipulative bullying” of her.
Swift said she was not given the opportunity to buy her work outright, and so, in a bid to diminish the value of the master tapes, she set about re-recording them.
Taylor Swift’s back catalogue was eventually sold on by Scooter Braun
She had re-released four “Taylor’s Version” albums to date. Just her self-titled debut album and Reputation remained.
Braun later sold his stake in her albums to Shamrock Holdings, a Los Angeles investment fund, in a deal reported to be worth £222 million.
It is not known how much Swift paid Shamrock to re-acquire the rights to her songs.
Swift said she was “forever grateful” to Shamrock for allowing her to buy the rights to her music back.
“This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams,” Swift wrote on her website.
“I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.”
What it means for Reputation fans
Just two albums remained to be re-released by Swift – her self-titled debut album and Reputation. The latter was a particularly strong source of speculation among fans, who would look for clues in her outfits during her record-breaking Era’s tour.
But this announcement could spell the end of that.
“Full transparency: I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it,” Swift said.
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She said Reputation was “so specific” to a certain time in her life, that she kept hitting a block when she tried to re-record it. She also said she felt it was the first album she could not improve by re-recording it.
Debut has been re-recorded, with Swift saying she “loves how it sounds now”.
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But both albums could still “re-emerge when the time is right”, particularly the unreleased tracks.
“If it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have,” Swift said.
How Swift’s stance changed the music industry
In the music industry, the owner of a master controls all rights to their artists’ recordings. This is usually agreed in contracts with artists, and allows them to recoup the financial investment they make in stars, including funding production, marketing and promotion.
It also means they can distribute it to new streaming services or license the songs to be used in movies.
Pic: AP
Swift, as co-writer of her music, had always maintained publishing rights.
“I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies. I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it,” she told Billboard in 2019.
Swift said today she had been “heartened by the conversations this saga had reignited within my industry among artists and fans”.
“Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this right, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.”
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