PARIS (AP) 鈥 A French investigative news website claims that actor G茅rard Depardieu has been accused of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting 13 young women, mainly extras.
Most of the claims reported by the Mediapart website relate to film shoots between 2004 and 2022.
None of the women has filed a complaint. Depardieu himself has denied any criminal behavior.
Depardieu, 74, is among France鈥檚 most well-known stars. He was in December 2020 for rape and sexual assault, reportedly at his Paris home, following claims by an actress in 2018. The investigation is ongoing.
Mediapart, which is regarded as a reliable website, published the accusations in an article on Tuesday. They feed into the long-standing stereotype of an industry full of dirty secrets where silence is golden.
The incidents allegedly took place in public places, mainly on film sets.
In a Manhattan cabaret for the filming of the 2015 movie 鈥淏ig House,鈥 Depardieu allegedly tried to fondle three non-French extras. One of them, then aged 24, recounted to Mediapart, 鈥淚 felt his fingers trying to slip in to get to my knickers.鈥
The wardrobe assistant for the 2015 movie 鈥淏ig House,鈥 Isabel Butel, told Mediapart of her shock at the reaction on set. 鈥淚t was kind of 鈥極h that鈥檚 G茅rard, he鈥檚 a bit mischievous!鈥欌 she was quoted as saying.
Another extra, identified as H茅l猫ne Darras, then 26, went to the police last year, 14 years after Depardieu allegedly kept grabbing her buttocks during filming of the 2008 comedy 鈥淒isco.鈥 Darras stayed silent at the time, not wanting to 鈥渕ake an enemy of casting directors.鈥 She eventually gave her account to police because 鈥渢he film world is full of G茅rards and we have to speak up,鈥 she said.
Those interviewed, be they actresses, location assistants or others, said they complained about Depardieu鈥檚 vulgar remarks, groans and straying hands but drew only silence, or laughs, from others.
鈥淧eople are afraid,鈥 Mediapart quoted one casting director as saying. She said her colleagues and friends unanimously reacted to her decision to talk to Mediapart by saying, 鈥淎re you crazy?鈥
Lawyers for Depardieu, from the law firm Temime, 鈥渇ormally deny all allegations that (could) concern criminal law,鈥 Mediapart wrote, and called the allegations a 鈥渧eritable indictment鈥 to which the actor has no intention of responding.
Depardieu, who has appeared in 200 films over six decades, is one of only a few French actors who have made a name for themselves in Hollywood. He won a Golden Globe for his performance in 鈥淕reen Card,鈥 a 1990 English-language romantic comedy co-starring Andie MacDowell.
Depardieu鈥檚 first big hit in France was 鈥淟es Valseuses,鈥 (鈥淕oing Places鈥), Bertrand Blier鈥檚 classic farce about two wandering thugs.
Before crossing the Atlantic to star in 鈥淕reen Card,鈥 Depardieu played an array of roles, ranging from Jean Valjean, the thief-turned-saint in 鈥淟es Mis茅rables,鈥 to Christopher Columbus.
In 2014, he played the leading role in 鈥淲elcome to New York,鈥 the film inspired by the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former director of the International Monetary Fund who was accused in 2011 of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. The charges against Strauss-Kahn were later dropped.
