A sexual assault lawsuit filed in opposition to Gérard Depardieu by a French actress has been dropped as a result of it was previous the statute of limitations, prosecutors in Paris mentioned on Monday, however the French actor remains to be beneath investigation in a separate case.
Within the lawsuit that was dropped, the actress Hélène Darras had accused Depardieu of groping her on the set of “Disco,” a comedy launched in 2008. Her swimsuit had been filed in September however was made public solely final month, shortly earlier than she appeared in a France 2 television documentary alongside three different ladies who additionally accused Depardieu of inappropriate feedback or sexual misconduct.
The documentary, which confirmed Depardieu making crude sexual and sexist feedback throughout a 2018 journey to North Korea, set off a fierce debate in France that prompted President Emmanuel Macron and dozens of actors, directors and other celebrities to defend Depardieu, splitting the French movie industry.
Depardieu, 75, has denied any wrongdoing, and he has not been convicted in reference to any of the accusations in opposition to him.
On Monday, the Paris prosecutor’s workplace mentioned that Darras’s swimsuit was dropped in late December as a result of the statute of limitations had run out on the alleged assault, an end result that was extensively anticipated — together with by the actress herself. She told Agence France-Presse in December that she nonetheless “needed to answer the protection that performs down our allegations by saying they’re ‘simply’ witness accounts.”
In France, adult victims of sexual assault have six years after an alleged crime to file a lawsuit.
One other lawsuit, filed in Spain by Ruth Baza, a Spanish journalist who has accused Depardieu of kissing and groping her with out her consent when she was in Paris in 1995, might face an identical destiny.
Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault in a case involving Charlotte Arnould, a French actress who says he sexually assaulted her in Paris in 2018, when she was 22. That investigation is continuous, in response to the Paris prosecutor’s workplace.
Whereas allegations of Depardieu’s sexual misconduct had been rising for years, criticism of the actor resurfaced lately after the France 2 documentary.
Darras was one in every of 13 ladies — actresses, make-up artists and manufacturing workers — who in April had instructed Mediapart, an investigative information web site, that Depardieu had made inappropriate sexual feedback or gestures throughout movie shoots through the years.
Within the France 2 documentary, and in interviews with Mediapart and different retailers, Darras mentioned that in 2007, on the set of “Disco,” Depardieu had groped her repeatedly in between takes, touching her hips and buttocks, and had propositioned her, even after she refused.
Darras, who was 26 on the time, had mentioned that nobody on set had reacted to the groping as a result of Depardieu was handled like a “king,” and that she had been afraid to talk out as a result of she was simply beginning her profession and was frightened about being blacklisted.
In a news conference this month, Macron — who had condemned what he referred to as a “manhunt” in opposition to Depardieu — mentioned he had “no regrets about defending the presumption of innocence for a public determine.”
However, he added: “If I’ve one remorse, at that second, it’s that I didn’t say sufficient concerning the significance of the voice of girls who’re victims of this violence, and the way important this struggle is for me.”