French actor Gerard Depardieu released after questioning over alleged sexual assaults

PARIS (Reuters) -French actor Gerard Depardieu was questioned by police on Monday in connection with alleged sexual assaults against two women on separate film sets, police sources said, and was released without charge.

Depardieu, one of France's top movie stars, has been at the centre of a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years that have tarnished his legacy and exposed broader divisions about sexual conduct in France.

Depardieu has consistently denied wrongdoing. One of his lawyers, Christian Saint-Palais, told BFM TV that the actor had been released without charge.

Investigators are probing alleged groping by Depardieu on two film sets, with one alleged case in 2014 and the other in 2021, one of the sources said.

Paris police and the public prosecutor's office both declined to comment.

Depardieu's case has become a dividing line in French society, with some women viewing him as a symbol of the country's inability to tackle sexual abuse by powerful men in the wake of the #Metoo movement.

Others, including French President Emmanuel Macron and several well-known actors, have rallied to his defence.

"He's an immense actor, a genius of his art," Macron said late last year. "He makes France proud."

(Reporting by Paris newsroomAdditional reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Juliette JabkhiroWriting by Gabriel StargardterEditing by Nick Macfie)