Overview
- Depardieu’s new lawyers argued in a closed-door Paris Court of Appeal hearing on Thursday seeking to overturn the August 2025 order that sent him toward trial, and the court has reserved judgment.
- The August 2025 investigating judge ordered the renvoi to trial after an inquiry into Charlotte Arnould’s 2018 complaint, a decision prosecutors now ask the appeals court to confirm.
- Arnould says Depardieu raped her at his Paris home in summer 2018 and filed a complaint days after the alleged incidents, and her lawyer says investigatory material including reported surveillance footage supports her account.
- Depardieu’s defence plans to challenge Arnould’s credibility and past statements, while prosecutors and Arnould’s lawyers say the case rests on consistent testimony and corroborating evidence.
- Separately, Depardieu was convicted of sexual assault in May 2025 and has an appeal hearing set for November 16–20, 2026, a parallel legal process that has already damaged his public standing and could affect timing and public interest in this case.