"I got lost, it's unlivable": the testimony of Charlotte Arnould who accuses Gérard Depardieu of rape

Tuesday, in a long interview at the microphone of BFMTV, Charlotte Arnould looks back on the last five years of her life. Years punctuated by the legal proceedings she initiated against Gérard Depardieu whom she accuses of having raped her twice on August 7 and then on August 13, 2018. The interview is chilling. The 28-year-old actress has been talking about “living in hell” for five years. In April, thirteen women testified in a long investigation by Mediapart. All accuse the sacred monster of French cinema of sexual violence. The 74-year-old actor, indicted for rape and sexual assault since December 16, 2020, "formally denies all the charges likely to fall under criminal law".

At the time of the alleged facts, Charlotte Arnould was 22 years old. Gérard Depardieu is a friend of her father and the young woman has known him since her childhood. “I have always lived knowing that Depardieu was close. He held me in his arms when I was a baby. There was a trust and an esteem”, she says. But on August 7, “I go to his house. And quite quickly everything changed,” she recalls.

That day, they would have crossed in the street, and Depardieu would have invited her to his apartment to give him advice on his career. Arrived at her mansion, she claims to have been the victim of a "digital penetration" in the living room. The following week, the actress said she went to his house again to confront him: "The same thing is happening again."

The shock passed, she decides on August 27 to go see the police. “I feel dead. I will take a little time to integrate it and make it aware. This is where I will take the step of going to file a complaint, ”says Charlotte Arnoult. At the police station, she feels listened to by the police and “does not feel that her word is being questioned”. But in 2019, after a preliminary investigation, the case was dismissed by the Paris prosecutor's office. So to “recover her integrity”, the actress is a civil party. And the case is entrusted to an examining magistrate.

“Everyone knows he behaves like that on set. No one is surprised, denounces Charlotte Arnould. There is a huge omerta and there are people who allow this to be possible. All these people who are in power are feeding the monster”. When in April, Mediapart publishes its investigation, the actress gives an interview to Elle magazine. Charlotte Arnould says she was relieved to no longer be alone: ​​"It's sad to come to this, but it also gives weight to my story and my case."

If for many of them, the facts are prescribed, others can still file a complaint. Charlotte hopes they will have the courage. With Elle magazine, the actress confides that the thirteen testimonies are only the tip of the iceberg.

Already suffering from eating disorders at the time of the facts, Charlotte Arnould explains that she had serious consequences. "Symptoms that result from post-traumatic stress," says the young woman. Anorexic, she would also suffer from bulimia and hyperphagia. Added to this are “periods of scarification, alcohol, taking medication, etc. (...). My life no longer resembles anything. I have been living in hell for five years”, she sums up.

Dancer and pianist, the young woman had considered a career as an actress. But “the flame went out”. Charlotte Arnould, however, "turned into the art of crime in 2019", made a few short films and played a little in the theater.

Indicted for rape and sexual assault, Gérard Depardieu was dismissed from the promotion of the last, Umami.