Gérard Depardieu

Charlotte Arnould accused Gérard Depardieu of two rapes allegedly committed in August 2018. An initial investigation was closed in 2019, after which a judicial investigation opened following a complaint with an application to join proceedings as a civil party led to him being formally placed under investigation in December 2020. In August 2025, an investigating judge ordered him to stand trial before a criminal court; Depardieu appealed the order.

Attribution

Directly implicated

In February 2024, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into Gérard Depardieu for aggravated tax fraud and money laundering, on suspicion that he had arranged a fictitious tax residence in Belgium while retaining the centre of his life in France. Searches were conducted in France and Belgium.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Italian photographer Rino Barillari accused Gérard Depardieu of striking him in Rome in May 2024. Criminal proceedings followed, while the actor's partner had herself filed a complaint connected with the incident. In January 2026, the parties announced an agreement, Depardieu apologised and the complaints were withdrawn.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Directly implicated

On 13 May 2025, the Paris Criminal Court found Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women during filming of « Volets verts » in 2021 and sentenced him to eighteen months' imprisonment, suspended. He appealed.

Attribution

Personally implicated

From 2023 onwards, press investigations gathered accounts from numerous women accusing Gérard Depardieu of sexual gestures, remarks or assaults, often on film sets. Several accounts led to separate complaints, while others remained public allegations without judicial proceedings.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Actress Hélène Darras filed a complaint in 2023 accusing Gérard Depardieu of sexually assaulting her on the set of « Disco » in 2007. Prosecutors closed the complaint because the limitation period had expired.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza filed a complaint in Spain accusing Gérard Depardieu of raping her in 1995 during an interview in Paris. The proceedings encountered questions concerning the limitation period because of the age of the alleged events.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A former production assistant filed a complaint in January 2024 accusing Gérard Depardieu of sexual assault during filming of the short film « Le Magicien et les Siamois » in 2014. The complaint was subsequently closed because the limitation period had expired.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The « Complément d'enquête » documentary broadcast in December 2023 showed footage filmed in North Korea in 2018 in which Gérard Depardieu repeatedly made sexual and obscene remarks, including a sexualised comment about a young horse rider. The broadcast caused a scandal, and Quebec removed his title of Knight of the National Order.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

After years of publicly expressed closeness to Vladimir Putin, Gérard Depardieu condemned the Russian leader's « unacceptable, reckless excesses » connected with the war in Ukraine in March 2022 and announced that he would donate performance proceeds to Ukrainian victims. The Kremlin reacted sharply.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

After falling from a scooter in Paris in November 2012, Gérard Depardieu was found to have a blood alcohol level of approximately 1,8 g/l. In 2013, he was fined 4 000 euros and received a six-month driving licence suspension; his withdrawal of the appeal in 2014 made the conviction final.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Personally implicated

In January 2013, Vladimir Putin granted Gérard Depardieu Russian citizenship. The actor subsequently praised Putin and made strongly critical remarks about parts of the Russian opposition, triggering international political controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In late 2012, Gérard Depardieu announced that he was moving to Belgium amid a French debate on taxation of high earners. After Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described his choice as « pathetic », the actor responded publicly and raised the possibility of surrendering his French passport.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In August 2011, Gérard Depardieu urinated in the cabin of a CityJet Paris–Dublin flight after the crew asked him to wait until take-off to use the toilet. He was removed from the aircraft, and the incident received extensive media coverage.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In the run-up to the 1991 Oscars, the American press revisited an earlier interview with Gérard Depardieu and presented certain remarks about his youth as an admission of participation in rapes. The affair provoked intense controversy in the United States and France.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Attribution

Personally implicated