Sexual Assault Allegations in Police Complaint

Hélène Darras, a French actor, has filed police complaint alleging that Depardieu sexually assaulted her during the filming of “Disco” in 2007. The news, which was first reported by French broadcaster France 2, was confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the complaint internally for the moment.
“We’re in the process of analyzing the complaint to see if it should be handled separately or as part of the ongoing case [stemming from the 2018 rape charges],” said a spokesperson for the Paris prosecutor’s office. Asked whether the complaint falls under France’s statute of limitations, the spokesperson said “it depends how we take it into account, and that’s why we’re studying it and haven’t yet transferred it to the dedicated investigative unit.”
Depardieu was indicted on Dec. 16, 2020 regarding allegations of rape and sexual assault tied to a 2018 lawsuit filed by actor Charlotte Arnould. The case was previously dropped in 2019 following a lack of evidence, but it was reopened in 2020 and criminal charges were filed in December. No custodial measures have been taken against the actor.
Darras was part of the 13 women who shared testimonies in investigative report published by Mediapart in April.
She most recently spoke about the alleged assault in a docu titled “Gerard Depardieu: La chute de l’ogre,” which aired on French broadcaster France 2 this week.
In the documentary, Darras, who was 26 at the time of the alleged assault, said Depardieu “grabbed [her] by the waist” and had a “wandering hand.” She said he put “his hand on her bum in an insistent way” and suggested they go to his dressing room. Although Darras rejected his alleged advances, she said he “kept groping her between takes.”
Depardieu denied all the allegations in a letter published in Le Figaro newspaper on Oct. 1 and alluded to the rape charges filed by Arnould, whose parents are old friends of his.
Without naming Arnould, Depardieu says “a woman came to [his] home a first time, lightly and willingly stepped into [his] bedroom. She says today that she was raped there.”
The tour for his long-running music show, “Depardieu Chante Barbara,” was even cut short in the wake of the investigative piece. When questioned about the report back in October, Depardieu’s legal representation at Cabinet Temime said the actor formally denied “all of the accusations that could be subject to criminal law.”





