Proceedings opened before a criminal court in Paris against French screen star Gerard Depardieu on charges of sexually assaulting two women during a 2021 film shoot on Monday, with the court then delaying the rest of the proceedings until March next year,

Further complaints and a possible second court case also loom for the 75-year-old, who is accused of using "violence, coercion, surprise or threat" in the alleged attacks.

The trial was set to go ahead against Depardieu in absentia after his lawyers applied for a postponement on health grounds.

"Gerard Depardieu is extremely affected and unfortunately his doctors have forbidden him from being present at the hearing, which is why he will ask for a postponement to a later date so that he can attend," Jeremie Assous told broadcaster Franceinfo.

The court had initially ruled that the case should proceed without Depardieu present but after at times hostile opening arguments, the court granted a delay until March 24, 2025.

Assous said that Depardieu "wants to be heard" but that a quadruple heart bypass, diabetes and the stress of the accusations against him necessitate a delay.

The actor will undergo a medical exam in early March to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

 

What are the allegations against the actor?

Proceedings were described as intense on Monday, with Depardieu's lawyer first slamming the investigation against his client as biased and flawed before directly attacking his accusers as "seeking the media spotlight," saying they were definitely not victims.

Lawyers representing the 33 and 53-year-old accusers fired back, "The defense's approach is particularly violent and aims to create new trauma for the victims," according to AFP news agency.  

Prosecutors claim the assaults took place on the set of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters.")

The victims in both reported that Depardieu trapped them between his legs and groped them in intimate areas over their clothes.

Paris prosecutors say one plaintiff told investigators that she had first heard lewd on-set remarks from Depardieu.

An hour later, the woman said she was "brutally grabbed" by Depardieu as she was walking off the set.

He allegedly pinned her by "closing his legs" around her before groping her waist and stomach, continuing up to her breasts.

During the incident, she said Depardieu made "obscene remarks."

Prosecutors said three people had witnessed the incident, confirming that the woman had tried to break off Depardieu's grip and that she seemed "shocked."

Depardieu has denied the charges. His lawyer Assous said in an emailed statement to the Reuters news agency that the actor would put forward witnesses and evidence that "demonstrate that he is the target of false accusations." 

Depardieu faces accusations from around 20 women 

Some 20 women have now accused Depardieu of various sexual offenses, with actor Charlotte Arnould the first to have filed a criminal complaint.

Arnould, now 28, filed a criminal complaint against Depardieu in August 2018, alleging that he raped her twice that month at his Paris home, claims that Depardieu also denies.

While investigators dismissed the complaint for lack of evidence in 2019, Arnould managed to have it reopened.

In August, prosecutors called for the actor to face trial for those allegations.

French President Emmanuel Macron took Depardieu's defense, saying he remains a "towering actor" being subjected to a "manhunt." Meanwhile, dozens of celebrities put their names to an opinion piece in the actor's defense on the website of the French newspaper Le Figaro.

France's belated #MeToo wave

Depardieu is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in the French cinema world's version of the #MeToo movement, precipitated in 2017 by allegations against US producer Harvey Weinstein.

The movement has only begun to sweep through French cinema more recently, with famed directors Jacques Doillon and Benoit Jacquot also accused of sexual assault.

Depardieu's career includes more than 200 films, making him one of the best-known French faces in international cinema.

He has played leading roles in adapted French literary classics such as Cyrano de Bergerac and Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables."

The actor also made a foray into Hollywood in the early 90s with projects like "Green Card" and "1492."

Sexual violence against women has also moved increasingly into the spotlight in France amid the trial of a man who drugged his wife and allowed dozens of co-defendants to rape her.

The case has sparked horror and prompted protests and a debate about male violence in French society.

rc/wd (AFP, AP, Reuters)