By his own perception, Gerard Depardou acts in a world that is no longer his own.
On the third day of his sexual assault trial in Paris, the French film star admitted that he was no longer granted his “rude” and “vulgar” language.
It reached several years ago, he said, insisting that he should not come near him in his dressing room.
“Today, knowing the vulgarity of the Old World, I am trying to avoid listening to the new world, and then I will not come across anything I hate,” he told the court.
“I’m not very relieved in this new society… I think my time is over.”
However, he denies being a sexual abuser.
“I don’t know how enjoyable it might be to feel the woman, her ass, her breasts. I’m not a metro train mock,” he said.
Depardieu, 76, is accused of sexually assaulting two women on a movie set in 2021.
In court, the actor repeated his defense: that he may have touched a woman by chance, or that he had never had sexual intentions to keep him in balance.
If convicted, Depardieu could face five years of prison and fines of up to 75,000 euros (£63,000, $81,000). The trial should last until at least Thursday.
The packed courtroom has been a scene of explosive interaction between the two legal teams since Monday. Depardou’s lawyer Jeremy has made an aggressive defense aimed at undermining the credibility of the two plaintiffs.
However, on Wednesday, it was Depardieu who was the subject of intense questions, and at one point it appeared to imply that the butt club’s hands did not constitute a sexual assault.
“I never carried out any sexual assault acts [against a plaintiff]. Anyway, sexual assault in my view is worse than what she said, he said, questioning from plaintiff’s lawyer Carine Durrieu-Diebolt.
The smell of blood was sniffing the lawyer in a hurry.
Shot Depardieu’s lawyer from his seat.
“No, that’s not what my client said,” he said, denounced Ms Durrieu-Diebolt of “trying to create a quote that the media can tweet about.”
Obviously, there is no love lost between the two sides.
Assous is seen as intentionally trying to feed the plaintiffs’ team. He believes feminist “activists” are working on plaintiffs and encourage them to file charges that they may not have brought with them otherwise.
The event under discussion took place in Paris in September 2021 when Despardieu was making a film called Les Veretz Bass (Green Shutter) about his aging actor coinciding with his decline in power.
This is the first time the actor has appeared in court on charges of sexual assault. Several other women have filed similar allegations in the media, and he has been accused of rape, all of which he denies.
The first plaintiff – the set decorator – told the court on Tuesday that after a small argument with DePaldieu, he caught her between her legs, hugged her with her hips, and told her indecent words.
The second plaintiff – the assistant director – said she was attacked by the actor three times. At first, she accompanied him from his dressing room to the set when she felt her hands on his ass.
Another time he touched her breasts through her clothes, and the third time he touched the butt club again. After she tells her boss what happened, Depardieu is said to have called her a “snitch” and refused to come near him.
To defend, Mr. Asath produced the photographs taken at the end of the shoot, and it appears that Depardieu and the plaintiff are happy to laugh together. She said she wanted to mitigate the case and wasn’t even sure they constituted a criminal offence.
It was only two years after she saw media coverage of alleged sexual misconduct in other cases that she decided to file a complaint with police, she said.
She left her in an uneasy state of distress, she added, but it is still difficult for her to sleep today.
The trial provided an unusual opportunity for the French public to see once rebuilt actors – Green Cards and movie stars like Cyrano de Bergerac – in a quarter nearby.
He appeared in court in a black shirt and jacket, leaning against the shoulders of his extremely large bodyguard.
Bodyguard – named Massika – was referenced regularly in the procedure.
Depardieu said that due to Massika’s permanent presence it is impossible for him to carry out the sexual assault he is being blamed.
The actor told the court that he himself was very overweight and that it would be difficult for him to walk more than a short distance.
“All my joints hurt. Basically, my body is a bust,” he said.
In court, he sits on a special box that Massika brought with him.
It is white and is covered with the appearance and signature of the kisses of those who gave Depardieu’s support.
