FILE – Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film ‘Saint Amour’ at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)

PARIS – A French court postponed actor Gerard Depardieu‘s trial for the alleged sexual assault of two women on a film set in 2021 for five months on Monday after his lawyers argued he was too ill to defend himself.

Depardieu, one of France’s biggest film stars whose hits include Green Card, Cyrano de Bergerac and La Vie en Rose, has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years that have tarnished his legacy.

His trial marks the highest profile #MeToo case to come before the courts in France, a country where the protest movement against sexual violence against women struggled to gain traction in the movie industry and laid bare broader divisions over sexism.

Depardieu, 75, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors say the alleged assaults took place during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (The Green Shutters).

They accuse Depardieu of groping one of the women on the film set, pulling her towards him and trapping her with his legs before touching her waist, hips and breasts whilst saying obscene words. Three people witnessed the scene, they say.

The second woman was groped by Depardieu on set and in the street, prosecutors allege.

Depardieu did not attend Monday’s hearing, when the trial had been due to start. His lawyer told the court he was suffering from high blood pressure and issues related to long-term diabetes.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, his lawyer Jeremie Assous said the actor, once he was well enough, would put forward witnesses and evidence that “demonstrate that he is the target of false accusations”.

Inside a packed courtroom, actresses Charlotte Arnould, who has accused Depardieu of raping her in 2018 when she was 22, and Anouk Grinberg, who played alongside Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and has publicly criticized him over his sexual conduct, followed the proceedings.

The presiding judge, Thierry Donard, read a request by Assous for a six-month postponement to allow Depardieu’s health to improve. The court agreed to a five-month delay and ordered an independent medical check.

Earlier, Assous told Reuters Depardieu wished to be present but his health forbade it.

“It’s always in everybody’s interest that justice be done in the presence of every party involved,” said Claude Vincent, a lawyer for one of the alleged victims.

In response to mounting allegations against him, Depardieu last year wrote in the conservative Le Figaro newspaper: “I have never, ever abused a woman. Hurting a woman would be like kicking my own mother in the stomach.”

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If found guiltydream club, Depardieu could face a five-year jail sentence and a 75,000 euros ($80,947.50) fine.

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