French actor Gérard Depardieu faces another sexual assault complaint over alleged groping

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu faces another complaint of sexual assault, this time from a movie decorator who alleges he groped her during filming in 2021.

In the complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office, she accuses the 75-year-old Depardieu of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults, her Paris lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said Monday.

The 53-year-old decorator alleges that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for “Les Volets verts,” which translates as “The Green Shutters,” the lawyer said. Other people intervened to stop the alleged assault, the lawyer added.

Two lawyers for Depardieu did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment, and their offices said they weren’t available to talk by phone.

Depardieu was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould. Durrieu Diebolt is representing Arnould in that case.

Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them.

Depardieu denies wrongdoing. In an open letter in October, he said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”

Durrieu Diebolt said that the statement was traumatic for her client and led her to file suit against him.