Catherine Field: Paris Correspondent on the trial of Gérard Depardieu for sexual assault

French actor Gérard Depardieu's gone on trial – charged with sexually assaulting two women on a film shoot four years ago. 

About 20 other women have also accused the 76-year-old of improper behaviour, but this is the first case to come to court. 

He's the highest-profile figure to face accusations in the French response to the Me Too movement. 

Paris Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking his has been a long time coming. 

She says he's such a giant in the industry, so the courts have shied away despite previous allegations. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catherine, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm fine, Thank you mate.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Now look, I'll get to Durard in just a couple
of moments his court appearance. Let me ask you a
couple of things about Turkey. First of all, and this
includes X and all of that sort of stuff. Where
does Europe think Turkey's going? Are we deeply worried about this?
Or is this just more ard one being at.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
One deeply worried?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Really?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
What has been said, particularly in Brussels, where foreign affairs
ministers meet regularly and they met just the last few hours,
is that Edigan has seen how much back inside the
tents that Putin has got that now is the time.
It's good to be a good time if you like
to be a sort of a dictator. To push aside

(00:40):
would be successes. So yeah, it is concerning. Let's not
forget Turkey as a member of NATO. The EU opinionion
spends a lot of time and a lot of money
trying to keep Turkey on side, and for something which
they consider to be so illegitimate, such as putting a
political opponent in prison and taking away his ability to

(01:02):
be able to contest an election. They consider that is
beyond the pals, So you're not just closing down social
media size making it difficult fever to communicate with one another.
But the fact that this basic, fundamental democratic writer is
being taken away by an opponent does worry them, and
it really is for them a sign that you, Edigan

(01:24):
has really got the win that sails after seeing Putin
being almost rehabilitated in some parts of the world.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
And that's before we get to Musk, who's bin suspending
a number of accounts. Does the view of Musk in
Europe change dramatically now that he's not just expertise Donald's mate.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I mean everyone is still if you like my
recovering and I don't even think actually they're recovering that
well from that speech that Vice President Vance made in February.
Remember that Munich speech where he accused the EU regulators
of being afraid of free speech and forcing content moderation policies.
So when it comes to things like Musk and x

(02:04):
twitters that used to be known as they really do
take a close look at this because, as they rightly say,
there has been a big information war. The Russia has
been using social media networks to sort of undermine institutions,
and that's why you've had remarks such as in the
last few hours Romania, the social media regulator there, has said, look,

(02:27):
it's not just against Musk, it's against an information more.
It's bigger than Musk, but he is part of it,
and he's the most obvious part of it. We've had
just in the last couple of hours the Belgian Foreign Minister,
a big voice in the European Union, saying, look, this
just cannot go on. We've already got Musk facing what
is that three charges against the EU for digital services,

(02:51):
saying that they should be hitting them more. The Belgian
FOREGA minister says that big tech is the best option
for the European Union to get back at Trump, to
get back a mask, to try and make them, as
they say, treat European market, which is four hundred and
fifty million people, to treat them differently than they have
done so far.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Right, So, Gira depadiu Fried Green Tomato is not a
bad movie, it seems to me. Yet again it's been
coming for ages. This court case. Is he there? How
long is it going to take and what happens?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Okay, yeah, it opened just a few hours ago. He
turned up wearing a black suit no tie, came into
court a company by his lawyer. He will only have
to be in caught for six maximum six hours every day.
His doctors have said that's all he's able to sit
through because of his diabetes and last year, of course,

(03:43):
he had that quadruple bypass surgery. His lawyer says that
the allegations against him are false, part of a campaign
of slander. Of course, deep Adou faces two cases in
this particular court, two allegations of sexual soul by two
separate women. This happened during the filming of Green Shutters

(04:05):
back in twenty twenty one. But of course it's much
bigger than that, because it has always been the allegation
that the French cinema industry has protected people like Depardieu
from the me Too movement, has covered up. Has said
it's all part of being an artist, being an actor,
of being a celebrity in France, and that he was
just so much of a draw, just this giant of

(04:29):
French cinema that the courts, despite having had these allegations
come to them before prosecutors putting them forward, that they've
shied away from it and that's why. Also today outside
the court here in Paris, you saw so many people
coming out and demonstrating in support of those who have
come forward, those two women, saying that more needs to
be done by the film industry to police itself, because

(04:50):
in any film set, you've got so many witnesses, so
many people see this, but they're all too scared to
come forward.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Always Pleasure, Catherine Seeing Excuesday, Catherine Field in France. For
more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to News
Talks at B from six a m.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Week days, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio