A sexual assault lawsuit filed against Gérard Depardieu has been dismissed, according to multiple reports.
In the lawsuit, actress Hélène Darras alleged that Depardieu (75) sexually assaulted her on the set of the 2008 French film. Discotheque. Darras went public with her claims in December as part of an investigative news series Complément d’Enquête. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations, it said Diversity and The Hollywood Reporter.
Although he did not mention names, Depardieu opened up about the allegations of sexual assault against him in an open letter in the French edition Le Figaro published in October, expressing that he had “never, ever molested a woman,” according to Deadline.
“I can no longer allow what I’m hearing, what I’ve been reading about myself for several months. I thought I didn’t care, but no, not really. All this is affecting me. What’s worse, it’s erasing me,” he said. wrote, according to the output.
A spokesman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said Diversity that Darras “decided to file a separate complaint after being heard as a witness during the ongoing investigation stemming from Charlotte Arnould’s lawsuit.” Depardieu was accused of raping Arnould back in 2018. His lawyer said at the time that the actor “absolutely denies any assault, any rape.”
Second actress files sexual assault allegations against Gerard Depardieu: reports
Gérard Depardieu at the ‘A Royal Affair’ reception during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Pallazina G on September 5, 2017.
Andreas Rentz/Getty
The case was closed in 2019 due to lack of evidence. After reopening in the summer of 2020, the actor was again accused of rape and sexual assault, which he again denied. He is unconvicted, it is stated.
Darras was also one of 13 women who accused Depardieu of separate incidents of sexual harassment or assault in a Mediapart investigative report in April 2023. French authorities said Diversity that “there are no other women, until today, whose testimonies as part of this investigation gave the judge new elements”. PEOPLE has reached out to the Paris prosecutor’s office for comment.
In his interview with Complément d’Enquête and Rok reports to him, Darras recalled that he was 26 when he worked with Depardieu and remembered him being “unmanageable”.
Gérard Depardieu says he is ‘innocent’ after being accused of rape: ‘There is no evidence’
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Gérard Depardieu.
Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty
“He looked at me like I was a piece of meat. I was wearing a very tight dress [as her costume]. He approached me and then ran his hand over my hips and behind,” Darras said in an interview with Deadline. The actress said she didn’t report the incident earlier out of fear.
“I was an extra and I didn’t even finish theater school. I wanted to be an actress and I didn’t want to be blacklisted at 26,” she told the newspaper.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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Source: HIS Education