Letter from Gérard Depardieu: “A truly filthy message”, responds Charlotte Arnould

The open letter from actor Gérard Depardieu, indicted since 2020 for suspicion of rape and sexual assault on actress Charlotte Arnould, propagates “a truly filthy message”, the latter was outraged on Monday October 2 in a interview with Elle. “It’s a truly filthy message: he defiled me in 2018 and in a way, he continues to do so with words,” she declared, seeing in this publication “a new strategy” of communication from Gérard Depardieu, who must “feel cornered in the prospect of a trial”.

The French cinema giant was indicted on December 16, 2020 for “rape” and “sexual assault” after the complaint of the actress, who had denounced two rapes at the star’s Parisian home at the end of August 2018. Charlotte Arnould obtained in the summer of 2020 that the investigation, first closed by the Paris prosecutor's office in June 2019, be entrusted to an investigating judge. Since then, around ten other women have accused Gérard Depardieu of sexual violence in the press. Investigations continue.

In his open letter published in the newspaper Le Figaro, Gérard Depardieu claims to be deeply “affected” by the accusations. On Monday, his agent also indicated that he would not participate in “any project” in the “context” of the accusations of sexual violence. In a long text that resembles a poem, Gérard Depardieu attacks Charlotte Arnould, without naming her. He writes that “a young woman came to (him) for the first time, walking lightly, going up of her own accord to my room. She says today that she was raped there. “There has never been any coercion, violence or protest between us,” he assures us. “She wanted to sing Barbara’s songs at the Cirque d’Hiver with me. I told him no. She filed a complaint,” he says again.

For Charlotte Arnould, the actor adopts “a strategy to reverse the guilt”. “He places himself as a victim in order to arouse compassion and sow doubt,” she denounces. “To recontextualize the facts, when I went to his house, I was 22 years old, I weighed 37 kilos because I suffered from anorexia and he was a friend of my father,” says Charlotte Arnould. “After 10 minutes”, the one who “could be (his) grandfather” put “his hand in (his) pants”. “Barbara has nothing to do with all this,” insists the actress, recalling her “state of astonishment” at the time of the events. “At no time was I consenting,” she says.