Actor Gérard Depardieu Denies Rape Allegation as Accuser's Lawyer Is 'Shocked' by His Comments

"Hurting a woman would be like kicking my own mother in the stomach," the actor wrote in an open letter to a French newspaper

Gérard Depardieu is claiming he has "never, ever abused a woman" as he addresses allegations of rape and sexual assault.

The 74-year-old actor wrote in an open letter published Sunday by French outlet Le Figaro that he "thought [he] didn't care" about the allegations that have been made against him but it "all gets to me" and "wipes me out," per Deadline, translated to English.

"Hurting a woman would be like kicking my own mother in the stomach," he added, according to Deadline and BBC News.

Though Depardieu did not provide a name, he was previously charged with raping a young actress — whom Deadline now identifies as Charlotte Arnould — at his Paris home in 2018.

"A woman came to my house for the first time, with a light step, going up to my room of her own free will. She says today that she was raped there. She came back a second time," the French actor wrote in his open letter, per Deadline.

Related: ​​Russell Brand Accused of Raping, Sexually Assaulting Multiple Women Including 16-Year-Old

According to Deadline, Arnould's attorney Carine Durrieu-Diebolt said Monday morning during an interview with French radio station France Info that she was “shocked and scandalized” by Depardieu's letter.

“Mr. Depardieu says he is exposing his truth, but it is certainly not Charlotte’s truth and it will certainly not be the one that will be upheld by the courts,” she added, pet the outlet.

Depardieu's comments in Le Figaro come almost three years after he was formally charged with rape and sexual assault of a young then-unnamed actress, who was 22 at the time.

At the time, the Green Card actor spoke to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, denying the allegations, per the AFP.

"I am innocent and I have nothing to fear," he said, adding, "There is no proof; there is nothing against me."

In his letter shared by Le Figaro, Depardieu wrote, "To the media court, to the lynching that has been reserved for me, I have only my word to defend myself," per BBC News.

He also alleged that Arnould "filed [the] complaint" against him after he refused to allow her to perform songs with him during a show at the Cirque d’Hiver.

Both Deadline and BBC News report that 13 other women also accused the actor earlier this year of separate incidents of sexual harassment or assault, per an investigation by French news outlet Mediapart, which noted that the complaints came from "actresses, makeup artists and production staff" during the making of 11 movies between 2004 and 2022.

"I've often done that which others wouldn't dare to do: pushed limits, shaken certitudes, habits on the set between two takes, between two tensions … to get a laugh," Depardieu wrote in his letter, reportedly referring to the latter allegations.

"Not everyone laughed," he reportedly added. "If, in believing to live the present intensely, I hurt, shocked someone, whoever it was, it was never my intention to hurt, and I beg you to excuse me for behaving like a child who wanted to have fun in a gallery."

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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