PARIS – A court in Paris on Tuesday found actor Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021 and handed him an 18-month suspended prison sentence, in a fall from grace for a towering figure of French cinema.

French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during the filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in Paris in 2021.

The French actor, who was found guilty of sexual assaults by a Paris court on Wednesday, was also ordered to pay €1,000 to his two victims on the grounds that they had been 'exposed to excessively harsh debates against them' due to the aggressive defense by Depardieu's lawyer,

For over half a century, Gérard Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility.

Going Places’ was one of France’s biggest hits of the 1970s, but its misogynistic content and scenes of violence against women sparked a debate that remains more relevant than ever today

Judges at the Paris Criminal Court are expected to deliver their verdict on Tuesday in the sexual assault trial of the French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu.

Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives Monday, March 24, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) A plaintiff speaks with the media outside a Paris court,