Depardieu denies women

French actor Gerard Depardieu, in a sexual attack trial, told Paris court on Tuesday that he did not have the habit of “hitting” women and called the #MeToo movement a “kingdom of terrorism”.

“I don’t see why I would go around a woman, her buttocks, her breasts,” Depardieu said in his first statement in the trial, accused of sexually assaulting two women during a movie in 2021.

Depardieu said it wasn’t “not so” in response to the accusations, adding that “there are evils that are foreigners for me”.

Depardieu, 76, who acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of inappropriate behavior by about 20 women, but this is the first case to be trial.

“I deny all this,” the actor, dressed in black, said in the crowded courtroom.

It is the highest profile to face charges in the French response of cinema to #MeToo Movement, which told court on Tuesday “there will be a reign of terrorism”.

‘Wild animal’

The test is related to charges of sexual assault during the 2021 Les Volets Verts (The Green Wosslatters) by director Jean Becker.

Anouk Grinberg, a prominent actor who appeared in the film, has supported the two plaintiffs-a 54-year-old dresser, who was only identified as Amelie and a 34-year-old assistant manager. Both women support sexual violence.

Another prominent actress Fanny Ardant is expected to deposit Depardieu later this week.

Giving his account of events during the shot, Depardieu told the court that “it was Friday, it was hot, it was wet, I weigh 150 kg (331 lbs) and I was in a bad mood.”

He said that after a heated discussion with Amelie about the options in the set, he grabbed her by the hips, but only “so I won’t slip”.

Amelie said the actress had really behaved like a “wild animal” and “he was not the same man you see here today.”

It was “constantly made observations for women”, including their clothing, he said.

She reiterated her account, she said for the first time last February, about how she had sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults during the filming in September 2021.

He said that Depardieu had boasted that he could “give women orgasm without touching them” and “violently grabbed” her.

The actress nailed her with the “closure of her feet” around her before she hit her waist and stomach, continuing to her breasts, she added.

He also said that Depardieu made “obscene observations”.

‘Lustful;’

Asked why he had not come immediately, Amelie said: “I didn’t want to talk about it, I felt humiliated, I had a long career and I knew that if I submitted a police report, it would be the end of the movie.”

He said he had a hard time finding a job as soon as the incident became known in the industry.

Depardieu questioned the category of the use of dirty language.

“What do you mean by Salacious? Do you mean by saying” pussy “? But I say” pussy “all the time, even addressing myself, I think it’s funny,” he said.

Depardieu complained that he had not worked for three years.

“It’s horrible what they do to me by refusing to give me contracts!” exclaimed.

He complained that he was reporting women’s protesters.

“I attach the freedom of speech, I like femininity, but not the women who are hysterical,” he added.

Tensions threw between the defensive teams.

“Stop baking him for an hour!

“It is unbearable to hear you,” Depardieu’s lawyer added, mocking his colleague Carine Durrieu Diebolt.

The trial, initially scheduled for October 2024, was postponed to the actor’s poor health.

His lawyer then told him that Depardieu had undergone a heart failure and suffered from diabetes worsened by the stress of the upcoming test.

Depardieu became a star in France since the 1980s with roles in the last subway, police and Cyrano de Bergerac, before Peter Weir’s green card also made him a celebrity of Hollywood.

He later acted in world productions, such as Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, the life of Ang Lee of Pi and Netflix’s Marseille series. AFP