Depardieu case: Charlotte Arnould hopes that other women will dare to file a complaint

Charlotte Arnould, the young actress who filed a complaint against Gérard Depardieu for two rapes in 2018, told Elle magazine on Thursday that she hopes for further legal action following the testimonies of thirteen women collected by Mediapart on April 11. “Among those who spoke to Mediapart, there are some for whom the facts are not prescribed. I hope some will be ready to file a complaint, said Charlotte Arnould, 27, who is speaking to the press for the first time. There are now thirteen known testimonies, but in my opinion, we are well below reality. "Marine Turchi (Mediapart journalist, Ed.) says that since the investigation, she has continued to receive testimonies," she added.

Gérard Depardieu was indicted in France on December 16, 2020 for “rape” and “sexual assault” after the complaint of the actress, who had denounced at the end of August 2018 two rapes at the Parisian home of the star. She had obtained in the summer of 2020 that the investigation, first classified by the Paris prosecutor's office in June 2019, be entrusted to an investigating judge. The Court of Appeal confirmed the indictment in March 2022. “I felt great relief when the testimonies were published in Mediapart, comments Charlotte Arnould. Officially, I'm not alone anymore! It's sad to come to this, but it also gives weight to my story and my case.

In the summer of 2018, the young woman, on the track of a career as a dancer, but suffering from anorexia (she said she weighed "37 kilos" at the time), changed lanes and was selected for Passion, a staged play. by Fanny Ardant. At his invitation, she goes to the actor, a "family friend", aware of his "illness", whom she considered her "little father of the cinema" and in whom she "necessarily trusted".

His complaint, filed in Lambesc (Bouches-du-Rhône), leaked to the press. She says she feared reprisals from Russian supporters of the actor. When her complaint is dismissed, Charlotte Arnould is "collapsed" but files a civil action and the investigation resumes. In December 2021, shocked to see that "nothing is happening" and that Gérard Depardieu continues his career "while I survive", she makes the decision to reveal her identity on Twitter.

“In the professional world, it was very cautious. There is a huge omerta”, she believes, angry with Fanny Ardant who speaks of a “disenchantment in love”. “All the powerful support each other. And then, Depardieu, it's like wine, sausage: it's France, we don't touch it. On the sets, he farts, he says horrible things, everyone laughs, a little embarrassed … He imposes it, he plays it, ”she regrets. The 74-year-old actor "formally denies all the charges likely to fall under criminal law," the Temime law firm, responsible for defending him, told Mediapart.