The ”king of the paparazzi” accused Gérard Depardieu of attacking him in Rome: ”He punched me three times”

Rino Barillarinicknamed the “king of the paparazzi”accused actor French Gerard Depardieu of physically attacking him on Tuesday on Via Veneto, in the heart of Romebut the actor stated that only “he got between the paparazzo and his partner”. The events would have occurred specifically in the Harry’s Barone of the busiest places in the area.

“I saw him in via Veneto with a woman. I walked over to take some photos.“, the 79-year-old photographer began his story, quoted by the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero. Thus, as he described, first was the woman who accompanied the actor, his partner Magda Vavrusovawho tried to block it, and then It was Depardieu who intervened and punched him three times in the face.

That night, the actor and his partner gave their version of the events through a statement from their lawyer, Delphine Meillet: “Rino Barillari, known both for his photos and his aggressive methods, He violently pushed Gérard Depardieu’s partner“, they pointed out.

Then, he continued explaining that, ”given the violence of the situation, Gérard Depardieu, who stood between the paparazzo and his partner, fell and slipped against him” and that “the famous actor and his partner got into the vehicle and the photographer persisted despite what happened and continued taking multiple photographs.

In addition, the actor’s partner is in the Umberto I hospital in Rome, and they also assured that “this is not the first altercation for this photographer, who claims having had 170 stays in medical emergencies for fighting with celebrities who refused to be photographed.

According to Il Messaggero, which managed to interrogate him before his hospitalization, Barillari also filed a lawsuit: “I’m going to the hospital now, but I’ll take care of him later: I will file a lawsuit against you before the police,” he told the newspaper. “When I photographed them at their table, of course secretly, I didn’t imagine how this would end,” he added.

“Mamma mia, how fat is he! He punched me three times in the face.“said the photographer.

Barillari, who began his career very young, had his golden era at La Dolce Vita in Rome, when he photographed celebrities such as Liz Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastroianni.

Gérard Depardieu went to testify and was arrested for alleged sexual assault

The actor Gerard Depardieu He was in police custody this Monday to testify in two cases about the alleged sexual assaults of two women in France, in a new stage of the judicial saga of this film giant.

The 75-year-old interpreter was detained at the judicial police offices in Pariswhere he had been summoned by investigators to interrogate him, a source close to the case told the AFP agency.

The first woman, who reported him in February, is a decorator who worked on the filming of the film “Les Volets verts” of Jean Becker and that she accuses him of sexually assaulting her in 2021.

The complainant explained in March to the online media Mediapart that the actor made indecent comments to her and then “brutally grabbed her” and “rubbed her waist, her belly, even her breasts.”

The second woman, a former filming assistant, reports similar events that occurred in 2014. According to the BFMTV network, the alleged assault occurred during the filming of the short film Jean-Pierre Mocky, “Le Magicien et les Siamois”.

This woman, who was 24 years old when the events occurred, filed a complaint on January 9, accusing him of “indecent words” in his mansion in Paris.

Speaking to the regional newspaper Le Courrier de l’Ouest in February, the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, also recalled in particular the actor’s hands “all over [su] body” during filming.

What Gérard Depardieu said about the accusations

“I have never abused a woman,” said the actor in an open letter published in October 2023 by the newspaper Le Figaro, in reference to the accusations of Charlotte Arnold.

In December 2020, the court charged Depardieu with sexually assaulting this actress, who reported two rapes at the actor’s Parisian home in August 2018.

At the end of December, the court filed the actress’s complaint Hélène Darraswhich accused him of having sexually assaulted her during a filming in 2007, as the statute of limitations had expired.

That month, the Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza announced that it filed a complaint in Spain against the interpreter for rape, due to events that allegedly occurred in Paris in 1995.

Total, around twenty women accused him of alleged sexual assaults in the press or in court. According to Mediapart, Depardieu touched another woman’s “breasts and buttocks” during the filming of Becker’s film.

Jean Becker “knew perfectly well that two women had been seriously attacked,” actress Anouk Grinberg, who participated in the film, said in an interview with AFP.

Depardieu denies the repeated accusations against him, which have become a cultural war front in France, dividing the world of cinema and pitting feminist groups against the actor’s defenders.

Beyond the award-winning interpreter of Cyrano de Bergerac, justice investigates French filmmakers Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for raping a minor, after the actress’ complaint Judith Godreche.

In addition to the complaints, a report on the program “Complément d’enquête” generated a stir in December over Depardieu’s obscene comments about a 10-year-old girl in North Korea who was riding a horse.

After the broadcast of the program, the French president, Emmanuel Macrondenounced that the actor was the object of a “manhunt”, and offered his support to an “immense actor” who made France feel “proud.”