Prosecutors ask for 18-month suspended jail for actor Depardieu

Prosecutors recommended an 18-month suspended jail sentence Thursday in the sexual abuse trial of film star Gerard Depardieu, the highest-profile figure caught up in France's response to the #MeToo movement.

In a closing statement, the lead prosecutor also asked Depardieu to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and pay damages to the plaintiffs. These two women accuse him of sexual assault during the 2021 filming of Les Volets Verts ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.

The court said it would deliver its verdict on May 13.

Depardieu, a towering figure in French cinema whose lawyers argued he was the victim of a plot to bring him down, said the trial had left him feeling "tired".

"For three years, I've been dragged through the mud by lies (and) slander that are eating away at me," the 76-year-old Cyrano de Bergerac star told the court.

Lead prosecutor Laurent Guy said Depardieu had preyed on "women in a position of social inferiority", exploiting his celebrity status and "aura".

French actor Gerard Depardieu arrives on the fourth day of his trial in which he is charged with sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021, at the Paris criminal court in the Tribunal de Paris courthouse, on March 27, 2025. Depardieu, 76, who has made more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial. The two plaintiffs- Amelie, 54, a set dresser, and Sarah (name changed), 34, an assistant director- allege sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker. Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

"What we have here are sexual assaults with intent," Guy told the court.

He said Depardieu should also be ordered to undergo psychological treatment and be included in France's sex offender registry.

The plaintiffs are a set dresser, 54, Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director.

Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial.

The actor has denied wrongdoing. "I'm vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I'll accept that," he told the court on Wednesday, but added: "I don't touch."

Depardieu told the court on Tuesday the #MeToo movement would become "a reign of terror".

'Wild animal'

A lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said prosecutors had "demonstrated Depardieu's guilt."

But the actor's lawyer, Jeremie Assous, said the prosecution's case was "vague and imprecise", calling the accusations against his client "lies". He previously called the plaintiffs "liars" and "hysterical".

Claude Vincent, a lawyer for the assistant director, in turn accused Assous of lacking a defence strategy, instead mounting "a defence of sexism", and called Depardieu "misogynous".

On Wednesday, Depardieu told the court he loved women and was not a "groper" as he made a final plea.

"I adore women and femininity, I feel very feminine myself," he said, sparking laughter in the Paris courtroom.

One of the plaintiffs, Amelie, leaves the courtroom for a break during the trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu, who is charged with sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021, at the Paris criminal court in the Tribunal de Paris courthouse, on March 26, 2025. Depardieu, 76, who has made more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial. The two plaintiffs- Amelie, 54, a set dresser, and Sarah (name changed), 34, an assistant director- allege sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP

A day earlier, he said he had grabbed Amelie, the set dresser, by the hips but only "so I wouldn't slip".

Amelie said the actor had behaved like a "wild animal".

French actor Charlotte Arnould was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Depardieu in 2018, accusing him of rape. French prosecutors have requested another trial over that case.

Depardieu became a star in France in the 1980s with roles in "The Last Metro," "Police," and "Cyrano de Bergerac," before Peter Weir's "Green Card" also made him a Hollywood celebrity.

He later acted in global productions, including Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet", Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," and Netflix's "Marseille" series.