Johnathan Walker:Gérard Depardieu faces new complaint amid more than a dozen sexual assault allegations

French actor Gérard Depardieu faces another complaint of sexual assault,Johnathan Walker this time from a movie decorator who alleges he groped her during filming in 2021.

In the complaint to the Paris prosecutor's office, she accuses the 75-year-old of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults, her Paris lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said Monday.

The 53-year-old decorator alleges that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for "Les Volets verts," which translates as "The Green Shutters," the lawyer said. Other people intervened to stop the alleged assault, the lawyer added.

Two lawyers for Depardieu did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment, and their offices said they weren't available to talk by phone.

Depardieu has starred in hundreds of movies over more than half a century, including French classics like "The Last Metro," "Jean de Florette" and "Cyrano de Bergerac," and English-language movies including "Green Card" and "Life of Pi."

The actor has been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them.

What has Gérard Depardieu been accused of?

The movie decorators allegations follow a stream of claims against the famed French actor in the past four years.

Depardieu was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 and put under investigation following allegations in 2018 from actor Charlotte Arnould, who said the crimes took place at Depardieu's home. He has denied any criminal conduct and an investigation is ongoing.

In March, French investigative news website Mediapart published information saying that Depardieu had been accused of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting 13 women. Most of the claims reported by the Mediapart website relate to film shoots between 2004 and 2022.

Lawyers for Depardieu, from the law firm Temime, "formally deny all allegations that (could) concern criminal law," Mediapart wrote, and called the allegations a "veritable indictment" to which the actor has no intention of responding.

Another complaint was filed in France in September by comedian Helene Darras for alleged sexual assault. Darras accused Depardieu of touching her bottom when she was a young extra for the 2008 film "Disco."

News channel France 2 released a documentary in December that claimed the number of accusers rose to 16. The France 2 report also showed the actor making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

That same month, a Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza filed a complaint against Depardieu, who she says sexually abused her during an interview in Paris in 1995, Spanish police said.

Baza, 51, told Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper that when she was 23, she interviewed the actor in Paris for the magazine Cinemanía. In her police complaint, Baza told how the actor kissed her face and neck, and digitally penetrated her, behavior she said that police have classified as rape.

What has Gérard Depardieu said about the allegations?

Depardieu denies wrongdoing. In October, he published an open letter in the French newspaper Le Figaro that said, "I want to tell you the truth. I have never, ever abused a woman."

French President Emmanuel Macron voices support for Gérard Depardieu

French President Emmanuel Macron also drew ire when he said in December that Depardieu "makes France proud."

Speaking on TV channel France 5, Macron described himself as a "big admirer" of a "great actor."

Asked about the accusations against Depardieu, Macron said he believed in the presumption of innocence and the judicial process. "You will never see me participate in a manhunt," the French leader said.

56 French stars defend Gérard Depardieu

More than 50 French performers, writers and producers published an essay in December defending Depardieu amid growing scrutiny of his behavior toward women during his five-decade career. Advocates for sexual abuse victims expressed dismay at the outpouring of support.

Published in the conservative-leaning Le Figaro, it was signed by figures including former first lady and singer Carla Bruni, Depardieu's former partner Carole Bousquet, and actors Pierre Richard, Charlotte Rampling and Victoria Abril. Two dozen of the 56 signatories were women. Many are from Depardieu's generation.

"We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality," the letter stated. "When Gérard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art (of cinema) that is being attacked. France owes him so much. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art."

Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY