Gerard Depardieu’s defence
Excerpts from reports of what he said this week, during his trial for alleged sexual assault.
“Knowing the vulgarity of the old world, today I try to avoid being listened to by the new world – so that I don't come across as detestable,” he told the court.
“I am not very much at ease with this new society... I think my time is done.”
But he denies being a sexual abuser.
“I don’t see how it could be fun feeling up a woman, her buttocks, her breasts. I am not a metro-train groper,” he said.
Asked about the obscene comment he allegedly made, Depardieu said, “What do you mean, raunchy? Is it to say ‘pussy’? Pussy, but I say it all the time, even to myself, I find it funny!”
He acknowledged to the court that his behavior can be boorish.
“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob.”
But he said he “never, ever” would have pincered a woman between his legs against her will.
“I’m not like that,” he said.
As reported by The Daily Express US:
Regarding the claim brought forth by the 54-year-old set designer, Depardieu stated he had no memory of any inappropriate contact, insisting, “There was no physical contact.”
He conceded that he might have held her hips but solely to maintain his balance and prevent falling. When confronted with an allegation from a witness who said she saw him trapping the set designer between his legs, the actor refuted: “I would never put anything between my thighs.
“With the belly I have, I can't put anything between my thighs.”