'Strong signal' Depardieu's conviction is historic win for #MeToo

When Gérard Depardieu, one of France’s biggest film stars, was placed on the sex offender register last week after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, it was a historic moment for the country’s #MeToo movement.

- By Angelique Chrisafis PARIS

"It was a message to all men in power that they are answerable to the courts and can be convicted," said Catherine Le Magueresse, who represented the European Association Against Violence Towards Women at Work (AVFT) at the trial. "The message is: watch out, the impunity is over."

Depardieu, 76, who has made more than 200 films and TV series, had personified one of the obstacles to the French #MeToo movement: France's cult of the creative genius. Depardieu’s fame was seen as so great that he was untouchable.

Sandrine Rousseau, a Green MP, said: "This is the first time such a strong signal has been given that no one is above the law for violence against women - that message has been lacking until now." More now needs to be done, argued Rousseau, who co-authored a recent parliamentary report that found sexual violence was "endemic" in the entertainment industry.

The judge convicted Depardieu of sexually assaulting the two women on the set of the film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters), noting that the actor seemed "not to have understood the notion of consent nor the injurious consequences of his actions". Depardieu had trapped, grabbed and touched the women, shouting obscenities and calling one a “snitch” for speaking out.