Latest news with #Depardieu
Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Italy judge gives Depardieu till October to settle Rome paparazzo case
Fabrizio Siggia, lawyer for Gerard Depardieu, arrives at court in Rome, Italy, on June 17, 2025, for the trial concerning charges related to the alleged assault of paparazzi photographer Rino Barillari. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane ROME - An Italian judge has given Gerard Depardieu until October to try to settle a case in which the French actor is accused of assaulting a veteran Italian photographer during an altercation in Rome last year. An initial hearing on Tuesday fixed a date of October 15 for the next session if Depardieu and Rino Barillari, a well-known paparazzo celebrity photographer, fail to settle out of court. Depardieu, 76, was not required to enter a plea at this stage, and was represented in court by lawyer Fabrizio Siggia. The case dates back to May 2024, when Barillari accused Depardieu of assaulting him in central Rome after he took photos of the actor and his partner at the Harry's Bar restaurant on Via Veneto. Barillari, who is 80, told Italian media at the time that he went to the restaurant when he heard that Depardieu was having lunch there with friends. Barillari took some photos before heading outside, after Depardieu's entourage repeatedly asked him to leave. The actor's partner, Magda Vavrusova, followed him to remonstrate, Barillari said, with Depardieu rushing out soon afterwards and punching him three times, leaving him with a cut to his head that needed medical attention. Barillari's account differed significantly from that of Depardieu and Vavrusova, who accused him of shoving them around. Separately, a Paris court last month found Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed him an 18-month suspended sentence. Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in that case. His lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision. The actor has been a leading figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including Green Card, The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Italy judge gives Depardieu till October to settle Rome paparazzo case
ROME, June 17 (Reuters) - An Italian judge has given Gerard Depardieu until October to try to settle a case in which the French actor is accused of assaulting a veteran Italian photographer during an altercation in Rome last year. An initial hearing on Tuesday fixed a date of October 15 for the next session if Depardieu and Rino Barillari, a well-known paparazzo celebrity photographer, fail to settle out of court. Depardieu, 76, was not required to enter a plea at this stage, and was represented in court by lawyer Fabrizio Siggia. The case dates back to May 2024, when Barillari accused Depardieu of assaulting him in central Rome after he took photos of the actor and his partner at the Harry's Bar restaurant on Via Veneto. Barillari, who is 80, told Italian media at the time that he went to the restaurant when he heard that Depardieu was having lunch there with friends. Barillari took some photos before heading outside, after Depardieu's entourage repeatedly asked him to leave. The actor's partner, Magda Vavrusova, followed him to remonstrate, Barillari said, with Depardieu rushing out soon afterwards and punching him three times, leaving him with a cut to his head that needed medical attention. Barillari's account differed significantly from that of Depardieu and Vavrusova, who accused him of shoving them around. Separately, a Paris court last month found Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed him an 18-month suspended sentence. Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in that case. His lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision. The actor has been a leading figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including Green Card, The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac.
Hindustan Times
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Italy judge gives Depardieu till October to settle Rome paparazzo case
* Judge gives Depardieu until October to settle assault case Depardieu accused of assaulting photographer Rino Barillari * Paris court sentenced him in separate sexual assaults case ROME, - An Italian judge has given Gerard Depardieu until October to try to settle a case in which the French actor is accused of assaulting a veteran Italian photographer during an altercation in Rome last year. An initial hearing on Tuesday fixed a date of October 15 for the next session if Depardieu and Rino Barillari, a well-known paparazzo celebrity photographer, fail to settle out of court. Depardieu, 76, was not required to enter a plea at this stage, and was represented in court by lawyer Fabrizio Siggia. The case dates back to May 2024, when Barillari accused Depardieu of assaulting him in central Rome after he took photos of the actor and his partner at the Harry's Bar restaurant on Via Veneto. Barillari, who is 80, told Italian media at the time that he went to the restaurant when he heard that Depardieu was having lunch there with friends. Barillari took some photos before heading outside, after Depardieu's entourage repeatedly asked him to leave. The actor's partner, Magda Vavrusova, followed him to remonstrate, Barillari said, with Depardieu rushing out soon afterwards and punching him three times, leaving him with a cut to his head that needed medical attention. Barillari's account differed significantly from that of Depardieu and Vavrusova, who accused him of shoving them around. Separately, a Paris court last month found Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed him an 18-month suspended sentence. Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in that case. His lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision. The actor has been a leading figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including Green Card, The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac.
New European
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
How to stop rape culture
There is one thing you may have missed, however. It doesn't seem like much on the surface: a mere 1,000 euro fine, which Depardieu must now pay to each of the defendants. It was barely mentioned in most stories about the trial. That was a mistake, given what that fine represented. You have almost certainly heard of the court case that made the headlines in France for several years, concerning actor Gerard Depardieu. You probably even know that, last week, he was found guilty of sexually harassing two women on the set of a movie, and given a suspended jail term of 18 months. Depardieu was, on top of everything else, found guilty of 'secondary victimisation', a relatively new legal concept. It first appeared in 2014, and was written into what became the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty aiming to oppose violence against women. Behind it is the belief that survivors of sexual violence often get harmed twice; first by their abuser, then by a sexist, biased, needlessly aggressive justice system. Gisele Pelicot famously spoke of it last year, saying that she had been left feeling 'humiliated' by court proceedings, despite being the victim and not the perpetrator. Back at the Depardieu trial, the actor's barrister called his client's two victims 'hysterical', and told them, point blank, that 'we don't believe you'. 'I can understand that Amelie doesn't read [broadsheet] Le Monde as it's too complicated, but she could at least read [gossip magazine] Closer', he said of one of them. Speaking to the press later, Amelie called the trial 'torture', and 'even more violent than the assault itself'. Sadly, this sn't an isolated issue, or one confined to France. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights intervened in the aftermath of a case in Italy, where a young woman was raped by seven men in a parking lot. In its judgement, the Florence Court of Appeal called the victim 'uninhibited, vulgar, lascivious', and mentioned her 'ambivalent attitude towards sex'. The ECHR found that the comments were 'guilt-inducing, moralising and conveyed sexist stereotypes', and recognised the case as one of 'secondary victimisation'. That both this case and Depardieu's were recognised for what they were is unalloyed good news, but ought to only be the beginning. In France, Italy, Britain and elsewhere, pundits keep wondering why survivors of sexual assault struggle to come forward. The answer, sadly, is often hiding in plain sight: it is unlikely that the perpetrator will be found guilty and, even if they are, the cost demanded of the victim for putting them behind bars is far too high. Suggested Reading Welcome home to Gilead Matthew d'Ancona The rate of PTSD for victims of sexual violence is higher than for soldiers who have spent time in warzones. We should, as a society, make sure that these survivors aren't being traumatised further when choosing to do the right thing, and try to make sure that an abuser will be taken off the streets. As things stand, however, misogyny still leaks through every pore of every justice system around the world. Any woman deemed not to be the perfect victim, pure as snow and without a single flaw, will be treated as inherently suspicious. It apparently doesn't matter that false accusations of rape are so rare they're practically non-existent: the assumption somehow always seems to be that the woman is, in some way, in the wrong. Of course, making more courts and barristers aware and afraid of the concept of secondary victimisation won't solve everything, but it does feel like one hell of a step in the right direction. It is also encouraging that it was mentioned in a court case as high-profile as Depardieu's, as it has given much of the French press a reason to discuss it. The more people know about it, the better. This is also why this column exists: rape culture will not be destroyed in one go, but must instead be dealt a thousand blows, one after the next. The British justice system doesn't currently recognise secondary victimisation, but the country did sign up to the Istanbul Convention in 2022. I can't offer much more than words, but justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has it in her power to spring into action. Let's hope she kept an eye on that Depardieu trial.
Euronews
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Gérard Depardieu facing trial in Rome for allegedly punching paparazzo
Following his guilty sentence in a Paris court for sexually assaulting two women during the film shoot in 2021 of Les Volets Verts, disgraced French actor Gérard Depardieu is facing a trial in Rome after allegedly punching a paparazzo. The case is due to begin at a court in Rome on 17 June. Depardieu, 76, is charged with causing personal injury to the Italian photographer Rino Barillari. He is accused of punching 'the king of paparazzi' as he is known in Italy outside Harry's Bar on Via Veneto in May last year. Barillari, 80, went to the bar where Depardieu was eating with a friend, Magda Vavrusova. Barillari claims that Depardieu insulted him and Italians in general, threw an ice cube at him, and punched him three times. This caused Barillari to fall to the ground. 'I can forgive his punches, but not the insult against Italians,' Barillari told the Italian news agency Adnkronos on Tuesday. Depardieu has denied the claims, telling La Repubblica that Barillari had pushed him. Delphine Meillet, a lawyer for Vavrusova, said her client had been 'violently pushed' by Barillari and that Depardieu 'fell and slid' on to the paparazzo.
