French movie legend Gerard Depardieu should stand trial for raping young actress over two days at his home, prosecutors say

French prosecutors have demanded that film star Gérard Depardieu stand trial for raping a young actress over two days in his Paris home.

The 75-year-old’s alleged victim, Charlotte Arnould, said Thursday’s announcement was “a huge step forward”.

Ms Arnould, now 28, alleges she was raped and sexually abused by Depardieu in August 2018.

A source working with the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said that “a request has been made to present Gérard Depardieu to the criminal court to be tried for rape by digital penetration and sexual assault on August 7 and 13, 2018.”

The investigation has been ongoing for six years and evidence includes CCTV footage showing Depardieu performing sexual acts on Ms Arnould at his country home in August 2018.

Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, Ms Arnould’s lawyer, said the request for a trial was “the result of a lengthy investigation that made it possible to gather the elements that corroborate my client’s words.”

Mrs Durrieu-Diebolt added: ‘For her, this is a big step forward, full of hope, as she awaits the investigating judge’s order to close the investigation.’

Ms Arnoud’s complaint was initially dismissed, but was reopened when more evidence came to light.

Depardieu’s lawyer did not immediately respond to the summons for trial, but the Green Card and Last Metro star has repeatedly claimed that the sex with Ms Arnould was consensual.

Depardieu is due back in court in October for allegedly assaulting two different women while filming a 2021 film.

Last year, Depardieu broke his silence on claims he is a serial sexual abuser, saying: “I am not a rapist and I am not a predator.”

He accused his opponents of lynching him in the media and expressed his anger in an open letter to the French press.

In late 2021, Ms Arnould waived her legal right to anonymity after Depardieu was accused of rape and sexual assault.

Last year, a criminal investigation was also opened into the suspected suicide of a French actress who accused Depardieu of sexual assault.

French actor Gerard Depardieu poses during a photocall for the second season of the French TV show ‘Marseille’ in 2018

There were fears that the final hours of Emmanuelle Debever, 60, were linked to the many allegations of abuse made by women against Depardieu.

She died on December 7, the day a new documentary entitled Gérard Depardieu: The Fall of the Ogre was broadcast across France.

It contained disturbing details of an alleged attack by Depardieu on Mrs Debever when she was a teenager.

In December, another French actress filed a formal complaint against Depardieu for sexual abuse, alleging that he treated her like “a piece of meat.”

Paris prosecutors confirmed that Hélène Darras, 43, had filed a complaint against Depardieu in September.

The couple starred together in the 2007 film Disco, when Darras was 26, and are said to have abused each other.

Mrs Darras waived her legal right to anonymity and told the same documentary series Further Investigation (Complément d’enquete): ‘He [Depardieu] is unmanageable.

‘He looks at me like I’m a piece of meat. I’m wearing an ultra-tight dress, he pulls me closer to him by my waist, then he runs his hand over my hips, over my buttocks.’

And in December 2023, Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza filed a complaint in Spain against the actor for rape, for acts dating back to 1995 in Paris.

That same month, French President Emmanuel Macron sparked anger by defending Depardieu.

Appearing on a television talk show, Macron said he was devastated that the actor was the target of a “manhunt.”