Gérard Depardieu Claims He Isn’t a Predator, Just a ‘Disgusting Slob’

“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature,” the famed French actor, who's on trial for the alleged sexual assault of two women on a film set in 2021, testified on Monday.

By Audra Heinrichs | March 25, 2025 | 12:46pm

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Gérard Depardieu Claims He Isn’t a Predator, Just a ‘Disgusting Slob’

This week, Gérard Depardieu’s sexual assault trial began in Paris. The 76-year-old French actor stands accused of sexually abusing two women—a 34-year-old assistant director and a 54-year-old set dresser—during the production of Les Volets Verts in 2021. Between 2004 and 2022, more than 20 women have accused Depardieu of similar incidents, including sexual assault or sexual misconduct, though these are the first two cases to go to trial.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the specific allegations that will be argued during the two-day proceedings include “violence, coercion, surprise, or threat” during Depardieu’s alleged assaults. In both cases, he is accused of “trapping” the unidentified women “between his legs and groping their buttocks, genitals, and chest.”

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Given that Depardieu is one of France’s most prolific actors, an Oscar nominee, and has garnered international fame, the trial could significantly bolster the country’s own #MeToo movement, which has faced resistance from the public, film industry insiders, and officials. In an interview last year, President Emmanuel Macron referred to Depardieu as a victim of “a manhunt,” called himself a “great admirer of Depardieu,” and asserted that the actor “had made France proud.” He attempted to backtrack his comments a few days later, saying that he just wants “a respect for our principles, such as the presumption of innocence.

Depardieu and his defense have denied all of the allegations. On Monday, his attorney, Jérémie Assous, told CNN that his client “categorically disputes the facts and says the accusations are all false.” During Depardieu’s testimony, he denied any wrongdoing, yet admitted to “grabbing” the set dresser’s hip during a heated exchange about her work.

“I grabbed her hip so as not to slip because I was so upset by her, by the heat, it was a Friday towards the end of shooting, I was very tired,” he said. “I don’t see why I would grope a woman,” he continued, claiming that he was so overweight at the time that he wouldn’t have been physically capable of doing what the victim alleged.

“I’m not like that,” Depardieu told the court.

In her own testimony, the set dresser described the alleged assault as Depardieu trapping her between his legs while the pair were in a narrow hallway on set, grabbing her hips and groping her behind, pubic area, and chest.

“That’s when I had a reflex of ‘My God.’ I tried to free myself, I tried to take his hands away, I couldn’t do it,” the woman testified. “He terrified me, he laughed, he looked like a madman.”

“It was very brief, there was no shouting,” she added, noting that she’d been too “petrified” to say anything and that Depardieu’s grip was too strong for her to get free. “I saw in his eyes a pleasure in frightening me, that’s what I felt, it’s savagery.” Three people witnessed the assault, according to the prosecution, and, ultimately, an identified person came to remove his hands from her.

The woman also told the court that Depardieu spoke of his “sexual capabilities” while on set. Such behavior, as justified by Depardieu, is simply his “nature.”

“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said during his testimony, admitting to “boorish” manners. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob.”

The second accuser has yet to testify.

Depardieu’s proceedings are hot on the heels of another high-profile trial in France. In December, Dominique Pelicot, the man accused of repeatedly raping his ex-wife, Gisèle, while she was unconscious and inviting over a reported 80 men to take part between 2011 and 2020, was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Throughout the proceedings, hundreds of people attended the hearings in support of Gisèle. Her case, which she notably insisted be made public, inspired a number of marches and rallies in France.

If convicted, Depardieu could face five years in jail and a fine of up to $81,0000. Depardieu could potentially stand a second trial at an undetermined date stemming from actor Charlotte Arnould‘s 2018 accusation that he raped her at his home. Prosecutors requested it go to trial in August 2024, and the case remains active.