Actress Emmanuelle Debever, who accused Gerard Depardieu of sexual assault, takes her life aged 60 on same day documentary about her accusation was released

Emmanuelle Debever, a French actress who made sexual assault allegations against Hollywood actor Gerard Depardieu, has died after taking her own life aged 60.

 

In a statement, the Paris’ prosecutors office told Variety: “Debever was reported missing by her partner on November 29 after leaving their home with a worrying note.”

 

French newspaper Liberation was then the first to report Debever’s death, with prosecutors saying officials confirmed that she died on December 7 and her cause of death had been classified as suicide.

 

An investigation has since been opened.

 

“In light of the fact that the actress had complained about sexual misconduct by Gerard Depardieu, notably in a Facebook post in 2019, a probe into the causes of death was opened,” the prosecutor’s office said.

 

“This probe will gather and verify the cues mentioned by the media and search the circumstances that may have led to this death.”

 

Debever rose to prominence as a promising young talent in French cinema in the 1980s.

 

She performed alongside Depardieu in the 1982 film Danton, then retreated from the limelight and, years later, became the first actress to accuse her former co-star.

 

Gerard Depardieu

 

In 2019, the late movie star posted a message on Facebook, alleging that Depardieu tried to grope her as they rode in a carriage on set.

 

Alongside an image of them together, she wrote: “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.”

 

Debever died on the same day that her allegations against Depardieu aired in a new documentary.

 

Titled Gerard Depardieu: The Fall of the Ogre and broadcast on the TV channel France 2, the documentary explored a range of other claims made against the 74-year-old director.

 

More than a dozen women had previously made allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour by Depardieu, including French actress Hélène Darras.

 

It emerged that she had accused him of sexual assault ahead of the film airing, which she says occurred when they were working together on the 2007 film Disco.

 

Speaking in the film, she claimed the actor was “unmanageable” and looked at her as if she was a “piece of meat”.

 

She accused him of “passing his hand over” her hips and buttocks.

 

Elsewhere in the film, cameras captured Depardieu making remarks and gestures towards several women during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

 

In one video, Depardieu could be seen making groaning sounds and sexual comments in front of women.

 

Additionally, he was seen posing for a photo while saying he was “touching the bottom” of a North Korean interpreter by his side.

 

In another exchange, he told the interpreter: “I weigh 124 kilos. Without an erection. With an erection, I’m 126 kilos.”

 

The documentary’s release comes amid another ongoing investigation into Depardieu, which began in December 2020 for rape and sexual assault following allegations from one of France’s best-known stars, Charlotte Arnould, in 2018.

 

Depardieu – who has appeared in more than 200 films and was Oscar-nominated for his performance in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac – has always denied any criminal conduct.

 

Addressing the new documentary specifically, he recently told journalists during a brief phone call with those who worked on the programme: “This whole thing is deeply bothering me.”

 

He declined an interview offer to make any further comments, but had previously published an open letter in the French newspaper Le Figaro, in which he denied ever “abusing women”.