Gérard Depardieu says he’s ‘innocent’ after being charged with raping young actress in Paris
Gérard Depardieu is asserting his innocence after being charged with raping a young actress in Paris.
In a new interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the 72-year-old French actor said he has “nothing to fear” after his reported indictment in December.
“Me, a rapist? They are only falsehoods and the judge will believe me,” he told La Repubblica in comments published in Italian on Wednesday.
“I’m innocent and I have nothing to fear,” he said. “This is why I have always been very serene in the awareness of the total groundlessness of the accusations.”
The actress at the center of the case claims Depardieu sexually assaulted her at his Paris home on Aug. 6 and Aug. 13 of 2018.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, the 20-something woman says she was attacked by the “Cyrano de Bergerac” star during rehearsals for a play.
In 2019, Paris prosecutors initially said they didn’t have enough evidence to file charges, Agence France-Presse previously reported.
The case was picked up again last year after the victim filed another complaint requesting a new probe.
