PARIS: French star actor Gerard Depardieu, on trial for sexual assault, told the Paris court Tuesday that he was not in the habit of “groping” women, and called the #MeToo movement a “reign of terror.”
“I don’t see why I would go around groping a woman,” he said in his first statement at the trial, in which he is charged with sexual assault on two women during the shooting of a film in 2021.
Depardieu said he was “not like that” in response to the accusations, adding that “there are vices that are alien to me.”
Depardieu, 76, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behavior by around 20 women but this is the first case to come to trial.
“I deny all of it,” he told the court Tuesday.
He is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in French cinema’s response to the #MeToo movement, which he told the court Tuesday “will become a reign of terror.”
The trial relates to charges of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters“) by director Jean Becker.
Anouk Grinberg, a prominent actor who appeared in the film, has backed the two plaintiffs — a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director. Both women allege sexual violence.
Giving his account of events during the shoot, Depardieu told the court that “it was a Friday, it was hot, it was humid. I weigh 150 kilos (331 pounds) and I was in a bad mood.”
He said that after a heated discussion with Amelie about choices on set, he grabbed her by the hips but only “so I wouldn’t slip.”
Amelie, testifying after Depardieu, said that Depardieu had actually behaved like a “wild animal” and “wasn’t at all the same man that you see here today.”
He was “constantly making remarks about women,” including on their attire, she said.
She reiterated her account, first reported in February last year, on how she had suffered sexual assault, harassment and sexist insults during the filming in September 2021.
She said Depardieu made “obscene remarks.”
Asked why she had not come forward immediately, Amelie said: “I didn’t want to talk about it, I felt humiliated. I was having a great run professionally and I knew that if I filed a police report, it would be the end of the film.”
Grinberg said previously that Depardieu constantly made “salacious remarks” during shooting, and told AFP that producers who hired him knew they were “hiring an abuser.”
But Depardieu challenged the accusation relating to the use of dirty language.
The trial, initially scheduled for October 2024, had been postponed due to the actor’s ill health.
His lawyer said back then that Depardieu had undergone a heart bypass operation and suffered from diabetes that was aggravated by the stress of the forthcoming trial.
Depardieu became a star in France from the 1980s with roles in “The Last Metro,” “Police” and “Cyrano de Bergerac,” before Peter Weir’s “Green Card” also made him a Hollywood celebrity.
He later acted in global productions including Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet,” Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” and Netflix’s “Marseille” series.
Depardieu denies ‘groping’ women in France sex abuse trial
https://arab.news/rxryr
Depardieu denies ‘groping’ women in France sex abuse trial
- Depardieu said he was “not like that” in response to the accusations, adding that “there are vices that are alien to me“
- “I deny all of it,” he told the court Tuesday
Cairo book fair breaks visitor records
- Strong Saudi participation underscores KSA’s prominent role in Arab cultural landscape
- Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, was selected as the fair’s featured personality
CAIRO: The 57th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair has attracted record public attendance, with the number of visits reaching nearly 6 million, up from a reported 5.5 million previously.
Egypt’s Minister of Culture Ahmed Fouad Hanou said: “This strong turnout reflects the public’s eagerness across all age groups to engage with the exhibition’s diverse cultural and intellectual offerings.”
Hanou said the event included “literary and intellectual activities, meetings with thinkers and creative figures, and thousands of titles spanning various fields of knowledge.”
The Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, was selected as the fair’s featured personality, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of his death.
The exhibition’s official poster features a famous quote by Mahfouz: “Who stops reading for an hour falls centuries behind.”
A total of 1,457 publishing houses from 83 countries participated in the fair. Mahfouz’s novels occupied a special place, as Egypt’s Diwan Library showcased the author’s complete works, about 54 books.
“The pavilion of the Egyptian National Library and Archives witnessed exceptionally high attendance throughout the fair, showcasing a collection of rare and significant books.
Among the highlights was the book “Mosques of Egypt” in Arabic and English, Dr. Sherif Saleh, head of financial and administrative affairs at the Egyptian National Library and Archives, told Arab News.
The fair ended on Tuesday with a closing ceremony that featured a cultural performance titled “Here is Cairo.”
The event included the announcement of the winners of the fair’s awards, as well as the recipient of the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Arabic Fiction.
Organizers described this year’s edition as having a celebratory and cultural character, bringing together literature, art, and cinema.
Romania was the guest of honor this year, coinciding with the 120th anniversary of Egyptian-Romanian relations.
At the Saudi pavilion, visitors were welcomed with traditional coffee. It showcased diverse aspects of Saudi culture, offering a rich experience of the Kingdom’s heritage and creativity.
There was significant participation from Saudi Arabia at the event, highlighting the Kingdom’s prominent role in the Arab cultural arena.
Saudi Arabia’s participation aimed to showcase its literary and intellectual output, in alignment with the objectives of Vision 2030.
The Kingdom’s delegation was led by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Egypt Saleh bin Eid Al-Hussaini. Also in attendance were Dr. Abdul Latif Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, CEO of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, and Dr. Hilah Al-Khalaf, the commission’s director-general.
The King Abdulaziz Public Library placed the Encyclopedia of Saudi Arabia in a prominent position at the pavilion. The encyclopedia, consisting of 20 volumes, is organized according to the Kingdom’s culturally diverse regions.
Founded in 1980 by King Abdullah, the library was established to facilitate access to knowledge and preserve heritage collections. Over the years, it has grown into one of the Kingdom’s most important cultural institutions.
Internationally, the library has strengthened ties between Saudi Arabia and China, including the opening of a branch at Peking University and receiving the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Award for Cultural Cooperation between the two nations.
Regionally, the library has played a pivotal role in the Arab world through the creation of the Unified Arabic Cataloging Project, one of the most important initiatives contributing to knowledge accessibility and alignment with global standards.
