An actress who claimed Gérard Depardieu slid his hand up her skirt during filming has reportedly killed herself.
Emmanuelle Debever, 60, was a promising young talent in French cinema in the 1980s before she quit the spotlight and starred with Depardieu in 1982 film ‘Danton’.
According to French media, she jumped into the River Seine on December 7 – the same day a documentary on sexual assault allegations against her former co-star, 74, was broadcast.
In 2019, she posted a short message to Facebook that claimed Depardieu attempted to grope her as they rode in a carriage on set.
She claimed: “This monster allowed himself to enjoy plenty during filming, making the most of the intimacy inside a carriage.
“Sliding his fat paw under my skirt to, in his words, ‘make me feel better’... me, I didn’t allow it to happen.”
Her allegation was included in the new documentary ‘Gerard Depardieu: The Fall of the Ogre’, which was shown on December 7 on TV channel France 2.
The show also covered a range of other claims against the actor.
Liberation has reported Debever died by suicide.
Depardieu faces a litany of sex abuse allegations from different women – all of which he vehemently denies.
He was placed under formal investigation in December 2020 but not jailed.
In April this year, French investigative website Mediapart published a report in which 13 other women accused the star of molesting them between 2004 and 2022.
In October, Depardieu denied all the allegations of sexual assault and mistreatment of women he has faced, telling French newspaper Le Figaro: “Never, never have I abused a woman. Hurting a woman would be like kicking my own mother’s tummy.
“All this is affecting me. Worse, it is extinguishing me.”