The French actor Gérard Depardieu, who is on trial for sexual assault, has told a court in Paris that he is not in the habit of "groping" women.
On Tuesday morning, the 76-year-old made his first statement at the trial, in which he is charged with sexual assault on two women during the shooting of a film in 2021.
Depardieu said in response to the accusations that he is "not like that", adding that "there are vices that are alien to me".
During more than an hour of evidence in a packed Paris court, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualised language with the set dresser and grabbed her hips during an on-set argument about the artistic merits of a painting.
But he insisted that he is not a sexual predator and said he does not grope women. He added: "I've always been told I have a Russian nature, I don't know if it's because of the drinking or the vulgarity.
"I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob."
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, is facing allegations by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial.
He is the highest profile figure to face accusations in French cinema's response to the #MeToo movement.
The first woman who accused the actor of sexual assault gave evidence after Depardieu and said that his calm and cooperative attitude in court bore no resemblance to his behaviour at work.
"Here, he's exemplary, he doesn't move, he's quiet, he doesn't make any noise," she claimed. "He's not like that on the film set: he gesticulates, he grunts, he makes remarks to women."
On the film set "he started saying sexual things, talking about his sexual capabilities", she told the court.
The trial relates to charges of alleged sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters).
Anouk Grinberg, a prominent actor who appeared in the film, has backed the two plaintiffs.
The trial, initially scheduled to take place in October 2024, had been postponed due to the actor's ill health.
His lawyer said last year that Depardieu had undergone a heart bypass operation and suffered from diabetes that was aggravated by the stress of the forthcoming trial.
Depardieu faces up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 if convicted. The verdict is not expected immediately after the trial.
Source: AFP and Press Association
