PARIS– French media are reporting that actor Gérard Depardieu is in police custody for questioning over allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on film sets.
Broadcaster BFMTV and daily Le Parisien reported that the 75-year-old actor was summoned on Monday morning by Paris police and taken into custody.
The Paris police force said it was not authorized to comment and directed questions to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, which said it had no comment “at this stage.”
“We do not have information to communicate or confirm before evaluating any possible charges and guidance,” the office said in an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press.
One of Depardieu’s lawyers, Christian Saint-Palais, was seen entering a police station in Paris’ 14th arrondissement after having lunch at a nearby restaurant.
“No need to ask me questions,” he said. “You know very well that a lawyer cannot speak at this stage of the process and I personally regret that other people have spoken, so I will not comment.”
An attorney for one of the alleged victims did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Depardieu denied any wrongdoing. In an open letter last October, he said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”
BFMTV and Le Parisien reported that the police summons is related to allegations of sexual assault made by two women who accuse him of groping him during filming – one in 2014, the other in 2021.
The alleged 2014 assault was reported to police in January this year, Le Parisien reported.
The other alleged assault involved a 53-year-old cinema decorator. She alleged that Depardieu grabbed her and massaged her waist, stomach and breasts during the filming of “Les Volets verts” or “The Green Shutters,” according to the woman’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, when she filed the complaint with the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. . in February.
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He received preliminary charges of rape and sexual assault in 2020 following allegations from actress Charlotte Arnould.
Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He was a global ambassador for French cinema and enjoyed international fame with numerous roles in Hollywood.
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AP Writer John Leicester in Le Pecq, France contributed.
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