French actor Hélène Darras’ sexual assault complaint against Gerard Depardieu, filed with the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, has been dismissed. The complaint alleged that Depardieu sexually assaulted Darras during the filming of “Disco” in 2007. However, the dismissal was based on the statute of limitations.
According to a statement from the Paris Prosecutor’s Office reported in Variety, the complaint, filed on September 10, 2023, will not proceed due to the expiration of the statutory time limit. Darras had decided to file a separate complaint after being interviewed as a witness during the ongoing investigation into a 2018 lawsuit by Charlotte Arnould, in which Depardieu was indicted on rape charges in 2020.
Darras was one of thirteen women who accused Depardieu of sexual misconduct in an investigative story published in Mediapart in April 2023. Additionally, Spanish journalist Ruth Baza claimed to have filed an official complaint against Depardieu in Spain for an alleged assault during an interview in Paris in 1995, which falls beyond the 20-year statute of limitations in France.
The prosecuting authorities confirmed that, apart from Arnould, there are no other women whose testimonies have provided new evidence in the investigation. Depardieu has not been convicted in relation to any of the allegations and maintains his innocence.
The complaint filed by Darras gained attention through a bombshell documentary titled “Complement d’Enquete: the Downfall of an Ogre,” broadcasted by France 2, the French public broadcaster, on December 7. The documentary revealed raw footage of the actor making sexually inappropriate and obscene jokes, including one about a child riding a pony, during a shoot in North Korea. The footage sparked controversy in France and led to threats by then culture minister Rima Abdul-Malak to revoke Depardieu’s Legion of Honor. However, President Emmanuel Macron later expressed admiration for Depardieu and replaced Abdul-Malak with Rachida Dati as the new culture minister.
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