French actress and artist Anouk Grinberg poses during a photo session in Montreuil, on the outskirts of Paris on March 1, 2024. Grinberg denounced the “cowardice” of French director Jean Becker and the producers of the film “Les volets verts,” after which a member of the technical crew lodged a complaint of sexual assault against Gerard Depardieu. She also called on France’s leading actresses to speak out against sexual violence. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
PARIS—One of the actors who has called out French star Gerard Depardieu for his behavior on set says producers knew he was an aggressor, and urged more women film stars to speak out about sexual violence.
Anouk Grinberg, 60, appeared alongside Depardieu in the 2022 feature “The Green Shutters.”
Two members of the film’s crew have made complaints of sexual assault against the 75-year-old, arguably France’s best-known actor.
On Tuesday, March 5, prosecutors said they had opened a formal investigation based on the complaints. Depardieu already faces a rape charge and sexual assault investigation, as well as claims of assault by more than a dozen women—all of which he has strongly denied.
“When film producers hire Depardieu on a film, they know they are hiring an aggressor. Not a potential aggressor—an aggressor,” said Grinberg.
“We all saw. We all heard… We were treated to his salacious nonsense from morning to night,” she told AFP.
Grinberg said the producers of “The Green Shutters” had supposedly appointed someone to deal with harassment issues but that she did nothing.
“She was never introduced to me. She never gave her support to the women who were attacked. She never intervened when we had to hear all about ‘Pussy, pussy, cock, getting sucked’,” she said, referring to Depardieu’s alleged barrage of sexual talk.
AFP has requested comment from Depardieu through his lawyers.
The film’s director, Jean Becker, has denied Grinberg’s account, saying he would have confronted Depardieu if any such complaints had been made.
“Come on! (Becker) knew very well that two women had been seriously attacked,” said Grinberg.
“It was to cover up their cowardice, their inability to protect women, that they accuse me (of lying).”
‘Many women know’
Grinberg has known Depardieu for decades, having worked with him on 1991 film “Merci la Vie.”
She said his behavior had considerably worsened over the years.
“I always heard him make sexual remarks but it got much, much worse—all with the permission of the profession that pays him and covers up his crimes,” she said.
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Asked why other iconic co-stars of Depardieu’s, such as Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert, have not accused him, Grinberg said it was “a matter of self-awareness and empathy for others.”
“It’s their business. But of course I would like many more women to speak out, because many women know,” she added.
Grinberg began speaking up after befriending Charlotte Arnould, who accused Depardieu of raping her in 2018 when she was 22 and anorexic.
That did not stop Grinberg appearing alongside Depardieu in “The Green Shutters.”
She has previously argued she wanted to be a witness to his behavior and had cleared the decision with Arnould.
She said crews were often warned against speaking about Depardieu’s behavior on set.
“People are afraid of losing their job, of not being believed, because until now, no matter how much we talked, we weren’t believed. Now the world is changing,” she said.
Grinberg had a dig at President Emmanuel Macron who said in December that Depardieu was a victim of a “manhunt.”
Macron “dares to say that he’s against ‘manhunting’,” she said.
“And what about ‘womenhunting’? For him that’s fine?”