JUSTICE

French Movie Star Gérard Depardieu Found Guilty of Sexual Assault

The actor was given a suspended sentence of 18 months.

French actor Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexual assault Tuesday. The 76-year-old will be receiving a suspended sentence of 18 months for inappropriately touching two women while working on Jean Becker’s 2022 film Les Volets Verts. The assaults occurred on set of the film in 2021. Depardieu’s name will also be added to the national sex offender registry, according to The New York Times. “For me, it’s a victory, truly,” one of the victims, identified only as Amélie, said. “We are moving forward.” The actor denied sexually assaulting the two victims throughout the trial, and though he was not in court for the verdict, his lawyer Jérémie Assous said he would be appealing. The case is being regarded as a landmark win for French women and cinema in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. Depardieu is considered an icon of French cinema having starred in more than 250 films over the past six decades. Some of his notable works include Green Card, My Father the Hero, Randall Wallace’s The Man in the Iron Mask and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet.