Tragedy in France: Actress Emmanuelle Debaver, who was the first to complain that renowned actor Gérard Depardieu sexually assaulted her, has taken her own life, overseas cultural websites reported on Thursday.
Debwer, 60, jumped off a bridge into the Seine River after French television aired an investigative report on Depardieu, who was accused of a series of sexual assaults and rape. In 2019, she testified that in 1982, during the filming of Denton, the actor tried to put his hand under her skirt while the two were riding together in a carriage. "This monster allowed himself to enjoy many things in the shoot, and took full advantage of the intimacy inside the carriage," she shared in a post on her Facebook page. "He slid his fat paw under my skirt to make me, he said, 'feel better.' I didn't let that happen," she clarified.
According to an investigation published this year on the French website Médiapart, the 74-year-old Depardieu, one of French cinema's biggest stars (who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1990 for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac), was accused by 13 different women of misconduct. The allegations against him relate to 11 films and series he participated in between 2022 and 2004. Another complaint against him.
Emmanuelle Debever, French Actress Who Accused Gérard Depardieu of Sexual Assault, Dies by Suicide https://t.co/3kKUzxtd0Y
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 14, 2023
Last September, another sexual assault complaint was filed by actress Helen Dares, who claimed that the incident occurred while filming the movie "Disco." in 2007. In February 2021, French authorities opened proceedings against the actor over suspicions that in 2018 he raped and sexually assaulted actress Charlotte Arnold, 22, the daughter of his close friend. The initial investigation was closed a year later due to lack of evidence, but reopened in 2020 and even led to criminal charges against him.
The investigation also claimed that Depardieu demonstrated a pattern of sexual inappropriate behavior over many years, including harassment of dozens of women with jokes or proposals of a sexual nature, and that quite a few times, even when the women found the courage to complain, their claims were dismissed or silenced on the grounds that "it is simply who he is."
Gérard Depardieu (archive), photo: AFP.
Depardieu's case also has an Israeli context: In 2017, actress Yamit Sol revealed during the program "Shay on Air" that she was sexually harassed by Depardieu during a joint filming of the film, which led to her resignation.
Following the news of Debuer's death, the Paris public prosecutor's office announced that an investigation had been opened into the circumstances of her death: "In light of the fact that the actress complained of sexual misconduct by Gérard Depardieu, particularly in a Facebook post in 2019, an investigation has been opened into the circumstances of her death."
In an open letter published in the French newspaper Le Figaro in October, Depardieu denied the accusations against him — and claimed he was the victim of a media lynching. "I never abused a woman. Hurting a woman would be like kicking her mother in the stomach," he wrote. "All these charges affect me, it destroys me." He later admitted that his frequent drunken behavior could be abusive, but stressed: "I am not a rapist or harasser."
Yamit Sol, Photo: Moshe Shai
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