Gerard Depardieu: French actor accused of rape

His lawyer says he 'absolutely denies' the allegations

(Clemens Bilan/Getty Images)

French actor Gerard Depardieu has been accused of rape and sexual assault.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has launched a preliminary investigation against the 68-year-old, a French judicial official told the Associated Press.

The official said a woman filed a complaint against the French film star on Monday near the southern city of Aix-en-Provence.

Depardieu’s lawyer, Herve Temime, said on France’s BFM TV that the actor “absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime.”

Depardieu was “shaken” by the “groundless” accusations, Mr Temime said.

The lawyer declined to say if Depardieu was in France on Thursday or to give details on the actor’s connection to the woman, who was identified by French media as a 22-year-old comedian and dancer.

“He will obviously participate in the investigation and answer the questions,” Mr Temime said.

French newspaper Le Parisien and BFM TV said the young comedian alleged Depardieu assaulted her on 7 August and 13 August at his Parisian home.

The two met when Depardieu led a master class at her school, BFM TV reported.

Iconic star Depardieu’s credits include Jean de Florette (1986) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990).

He has appeared in 200 films over six decades and holds a rare position as a French actor who is known in Hollywood.

He won a Golden Globe for his performance in Green Card (1990), an English-language romantic comedy co-starring Andie MacDowell.

In 2014, he had the leading role in Welcome to New York, the film inspired by the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former director of the International Monetary Fund who was accused in 2011 of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.

In recent years, he has drawn Western criticism for his close ties to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.