French film icon Gérard Depardieu, long regarded as one of the country’s most prominent actors, will stand trial on charges of raping actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018. The decision marks another major blow to his public image, coming months after he was convicted of sexual assault in a separate case. Arnould, who was in her early 20s at the time, first accused Depardieu of raping her at his Paris residence on two occasions in 2018. Now 76, Depardieu has consistently denied the allegations.

On Tuesday (Sept 2), the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that an investigating judge had ordered the case to proceed to trial, following Arnould’s announcement on Instagram. No date has yet been set. “I think I’m having trouble realising how huge this is. I’m relieved,” Arnould wrote in her post. Neither Arnould’s nor Depardieu’s legal teams responded immediately to requests for comment.

Depardieu, who rose to fame in 1974 with Going Places and went on to star in dozens of French films, has faced an increasing number of sexual assault claims in recent years. Arnould, 29, a stage and voice actress and former ballet dancer, attended court in May when Depardieu was convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set. He was given an 18-month suspended prison term, which his lawyer vowed to appeal. During that trial, Depardieu’s lawyer called Arnould a liar — remarks she later described on Instagram as “outrageous and completely unnecessary to reveal the truth.”

Although her case was initially dropped, prosecutors reopened it in 2020 and formally sought a trial in 2022. Since then, Arnould has become an outspoken supporter of France’s #MeToo movement, publicly standing with survivors of sexual assault and calling for accountability in the film industry.