Paris, 29 April

French media are reporting that actor Gérard Depardieu is in police custody for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets.

Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien reported that the 75-year-old actor was summoned Monday morning by Paris police and placed in custody. The Paris police force said it wasn't authorised to comment and directed questions to the Paris prosecutor's office, which said it had no comment “at this stage."

“We have no information to communicate or confirm before having assessed any eventual charges and directions,” the office said in an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press.

One of Depardieu's lawyers, Christian Saint-Palais, was seen walking into a police station in the 14th district of Paris after lunching at a nearby restaurant. “No need to ask me any questions," he said. “You know very well that a lawyer cannot speak at this stage of the procedure, and personally I regret that other persons have spoken, so I won't make any comment.”

A lawyer for one of the alleged victims did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Depardieu has denied wrongdoing. In an open letter last October, he said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”

BFMTV and Le Parisien reported that the police summons relates to accusations of sexual assault filed by two women who accuse him of groping during filming — one in 2014, the other in 2021.

The alleged 2014 assault was reported to police in January this year, Le Parisien reported. The other alleged assault involved a 53-year-old movie decorator. She alleged that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for “Les Volets verts,” or “The Green Shutters,” according to the woman's lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, when she filed the complaint to the Paris prosecutor's office in February.

Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.

Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood. —AP