New developments surrounding Gérard Depardieu (75): A complaint of sexual harassment against the French acting star has been dismissed, as reported by “Variety” and “Le Monde”, among others. Accordingly, the Paris public prosecutor’s office informed the actress Hélène Darras on December 29, 2023 that her complaint against Depardieu, filed on September 10 last year, would not be pursued further due to the statute of limitations. Darras accused Depardieu of groping her on the set of the film “Disco” in 2007.
The actress, who was involved in the film “Disco” as a supporting actress, initially testified in an investigation initiated by actress Charlotte Arnould (29) before she decided to file a complaint herself. The allegations became public through a documentary broadcast on French television in December 2023, which, among other things, shows Depardieu making lewd and sexist comments during a filming trip in North Korea. In France, this sparked great outrage and a nationwide debate.
Hélène Darras described the events during the filming of the film “Disco” in the program broadcast on the France 2 channel, according to “RTL” as follows: “I’m wearing an ultra-tight dress, he pulls me closer to him by the waist, then he leaves “His hand slides over my hips, on my ass.” Darras was 26 years old at the time.
Depardieu denies any wrongdoing in this and other cases and has not been convicted in connection with any of the allegations made against him by a total of 13 women, which were first reported by Mediapart in April 2023. Spanish journalist Ruth Baza has also filed an official complaint in her home country against the actor, alleging that Depardieu attacked her during an interview in 1995.
A real culture war has broken out in France in recent weeks over the allegations against the national acting icon. For example, French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak (44) intends to revoke Depardieu’s membership in the Legion of Honor. President Emmanuel Macron (46), however, sided with the actor and emphasized the presumption of innocence. Malak has now been replaced by her successor, Rachida Dati (58).
