Prosecutors call for Gerard Depardieu rape case to be reopened after probe into claims he assaulted actress in her 20s at his Paris home was dropped over lack of proof
- The French actor, now 71, was accused of assaulting and raping actress in 2018
- Probe was dropped last year but the woman has now relaunched proceedings
- Depardieu, who has made more than 180 films, denies any wrongdoing
Prosecutors have called for a rape case involving Gerard Depardieu to be reopened after a probe into claims he assaulted an actress was dropped over a lack of proof.
The French actor, now 71, was accused of assaulting and raping an actress in her 20s at his Paris home in August 2018.
A probe into the allegations was dropped last year but the actress has now relaunched proceedings, Paris prosecutors said on Saturday.
Depardieu denies any wrongdoing.
The French actor, now 71, (pictured in 2018) was accused of assaulting and raping an actress in her 20s at his Paris home in August 2018
The preliminary investigation was opened on August 27 after the young woman filed a complaint near the southern city of Aix-en-Provence for rape and sexual aggression against the star.
It was then passed on to officers in Paris but the probe was dropped after nine months in early 2019 after investigators failed to gather enough proof to proceed to formal charges.
At the time, Depardieu’s lawyer, Herve Temime, said the actor ‘absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime’ and dismissed the complaint as ‘groundless.’
Depardieu (pictured above in Paris promoting a film in 1987) strongly denies any wrongdoing
Described as a controversial and larger-than-life character, Depardieu (attending the opening of the Beiteddine International Art Festival in 2019) became the face of French cinema due to roles in films such as Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette and Camille Claudel
The young woman has now relaunched proceedings by acting as an ‘injured party’ – which under French law almost always leads to a case being examined by an investigating magistrate.
MailOnline has contacted lawyer, Herve Temime, for comment.
Described as a controversial and larger-than-life character, Depardieu became the face of French cinema due to roles in films such as such as Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette and Camille Claudel.
He has also had a successful international career, having made more than 180 films, working among others with Peter Weir in Green Card and with Ridley Scott in 1492.