French actor Gerard Depardieu will be tried on charges he sexually assaulted two people, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
French police detained Depardieu for several hours Monday for questioning over the accusations made by two women, who said he sexually assaulted them on movie sets, The Associated Press reported.
The women accused Depardieu of groping them on movie sets, with one alleged assault occurring in 2014 and the other in 2021, according to the AP. The incidents were reported to police in January and February of this year, respectively.
The Paris Prosecutor's Office said Depardieu "was given a summons to appear before the criminal court" and will be tried in October "for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021" on the set of "Les Volets Verts."
Depardieu was also indicted in 2020 after French actor Charlotte Arnould alleged that he raped and sexually assaulted her in 2018, the prosecutor’s office said Monday. The case was dropped in 2019 because of a lack of evidence before it was eventually revived, the AP reported.
Representatives for Depardieu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Over a dozen women have accused Depardieu of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them in recent years, according to the AP. In an open letter in October, he denied any wrongdoing.
In January, French prosecutors dismissed a complaint filed by French actor Hélène Darras alleging that Depardieu sexually assaulted her during the filming of “Disco” in 2007 because of the statute of limitations.
