PARIS – French actor Gérard Depardieuwho is facing trial for allegedly sexually assaulting two women on a film that took place in 2021, will not appear before a criminal court in Paris on Monday for health reasons, his lawyer said.

Depardieu, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, is accused of using “violence, coercion, surprise or threat” in the alleged assault, which prosecutors said took place on set. “Les Volets verts” (“Green shutters”)

Lawyer Jérémie Assous said doctors say the actor’s health does not allow him to appear at the opening of the trial on Monday.

Depardieu “is deeply affected and unfortunately his doctors do not allow him to attend the hearing,” Assous told France Info radio.

Assous said he would ask the court to postpone the trial because his client “wants to come, he wants to speak.”

Prosecutors say that in both cases, the victims reported that the 75-year-old actor grabbed their legs and groped their buttocks, genitals, chest and breasts over their clothes.

The trial was scheduled as France continues to grapple with sexual violence in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which has struggled to find traction particularly in the film industry.

One of the victims was identified as a 53-year-old production designer. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent. Her attorney did not respond to an email from the AP regarding the matter.

According to Paris prosecutors, the woman told investigators that she first heard sexual remarks from Depardieu and then, one day, as she was walking past him, he “grabbed her, pulled her towards him, blocked her with legs and groped her. waist, hips and chest, accompanying his gestures with obscene lines.”

Three people witnessed it, prosecutors said, confirming that the woman tried to break away from Depardieu’s grip and appeared “shocked”. A psychiatric exam granted him a seven-day leave of absence.

After the incident, Depardieu was arranged to apologize. But in a TV interview broadcast on Saturday, the woman said the actor was angry and blamed her for causing trouble. Prosecutors said witnesses confirmed that what Depardieu had said did not constitute an apology.

In an interview with French online news site Mediapart, the production designer – who spoke on camera but only gave her first name – said the alleged assault had affected her personal and professional life for at least 1 year and half. She said she couldn’t sleep well, suffered anxiety attacks and lost weight.

The woman, according to prosecutors, said it took her a while to file a complaint, but decided to do so after hearing on television that there had never been an incident during filming.

A month before the alleged attack, another woman who also worked on the film set complained about Depardieu, Paris prosecutors said.

A manager’s assistant told investigators that Depardieu touched her buttocks several times. She expressed her disapproval and in return Depardieu, she said, was insulted towards her. She was also given a six-day leave from a psychiatrist.

Assous, Depardieu’s lawyer, told the AP in an email Saturday that “the witnesses and evidence (Depardieu) will present will demonstrate that he is the target of false accusations.”

Despite the accusations against Depardieu, many have come to his support, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the end of last year, 56 French performers, writers and producers published an essay appearing movie starsaying that when “Gérard Depardieu is targeted in this way, art (cinema) is attacked”.

Their call came just weeks after the national broadcaster France 2 broadcast a documentary outlining allegations of sexual misconduct by 16 women against Depardieu and showed the actor making lewd remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

In the footage, Depardieu can be seen making moaning sounds and sexual comments in front of women, including a 10-year-old girl riding a horse. He can also be seen posing for a photo, saying he’s “touching the ass” of a North Korean performer alongside him.

He was charged in 2021 with rape and sexual assault after authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped. following the accusations brought by the actor Charlotte Arnould.

In an open letter published in the conservative-leaning Le Figaro newspaper last year, Depardieu said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”

The actor has long been seen as a national icon in France. He was a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.

Earlier this year, actor Judith Godrèche called on the French film industry to do just that “face the truth” about sexual violence and physical abuse during the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.

Godrèche previously claimed that two prominent film directors sexually abused her as a teenager. sending new shockwaves through the industry.

More recently, the ongoing trial of 50 men accused of raping a woman who had previously been drugged and left unconscious by her husband shook the country. Protests spread across the country last weekend in support of the victim, a mother and grandmother in her early 70s, who became a hero to many victims of sexual violence because she insisted that her trial be open to the public.

Feminist groups called for a protest outside the court ahead of Monday’s hearings.