Gérard Depardieu targeted by a new complaint for sexual assault

The actress Hélène Darras, who toured as an extra with Gérard Depardieu in 2007, filed a complaint against the actor for sexual assault in September 2023, according to information from France 2 which broadcast an additional investigation on the subject on Thursday evening. The 74-year-old actor, targeted by several accusations of rape and assault, was before this complaint already the subject of an investigation and indicted since December 2020 following Charlotte Arnould's complaint.

According to the testimony collected by Complément d'investigation in a report entitled "Gérard Depardieu: the fall of the ogre" and transcribed by France Télévisions, the new elements concern the filming of Disco, a film directed by Fabien Onteniente, for which Hélène Darras, then aged 26, had been hired as an extra.

Also read: Anouk Grinberg says she saw Gérard Depardieu attack women

The actress explains having been attacked on the set by Gérard Depardieu. “He looks at me like I’m a piece of meat. I have an ultra-tight dress, he pulls me closer to him by the waist, then he passes his hand on my hips, on my buttocks, she remembers. He said to me bluntly: “Do you want to come up to my dressing room?” I tell him no, but that doesn’t change the fact that between takes, he will continue to grope me.”

Also read “I got lost, it’s unlivable”: the testimony of Charlotte Arnould who accuses Gérard Depardieu of rape

Hélène Darras explains today that she did not complain to production about this behavior at the time for fear of hindering her career. “I'm an extra, I haven't even finished my theater school yet, and I want to be an actress. I don’t want to be blacklisted at 26,” she says, emphasizing that opposite, Gérard Depardieu is “the king of the stage”. To Complément d’investigation, however, she explains that she recorded the story in a diary. She adds that she testified, in writing, to the police after Charlotte Arnould filed a complaint to support her approach. “Gérard Depardieu seems untouchable to me, which is why I said nothing at the time, but today, it seems important to me to provide my testimony,” she wrote in a letter consulted by France Info.

According to France Télévisions, Gérard Depardieu did not wish to answer the questions of Additional investigation. In a column published by Le Figaro in October, the actor assured: “Never, ever have I abused a woman.”