Gérard Depardieu denied accusations of sexually assaulting a set dresser on a 2021 film shoot in a Paris court hearing on Tuesday but acknowledged for the first time that he he had grabbed her by the hips.

The Oscar-nominated Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card star is currently being tried on two separate charges of sexual assault related to events alleged to have taken place on the set of Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters.

“At 76, I am passed the age of groping,” he told the Paris court after listening to the testimony of a set director named simply as Amélie, one of two plaintiffs – alongside an assistant director – testifying in the trial.

Amélie recounted how she had found herself in the same space as Depardieu while dressing a scene in an apartment where the shoot was taking place.

She said he had gestured to her to come closer, as if he wanted to say something, and then when she approached him, closed his legs around her and grabbed her hips.

“That’s when I understood that he had a lot of strength. I was destabilised. I felt held down. I had this big face in front of me, with very angry red eyes, saying to me: ‘Come touch my big parasol, I’m going to shove it up your pussy’,” she said, adding her had then kneaded her up to his breasts.

Crew members who witnessed the incident suggested she lodge a complaint, but Amélie said she had hesitated before going down that route.  

It was only after seeing a edition of France Télevision’s investigative show Complément d’Enquête in 2023, probing historic accusations against the actor that she had decided to go to the police.

Depardieu denied his intentions had been sexual, telling the court rather that he had been trying to stop himself sliding on his seat – a cube he takes with him on set – while the act of pulling her close had been to “avoid speaking too loudly.”

Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer for Amélie, rebutted Depardieu account, noting it was his third version of events, having originally denied even touching the plaintiff when he was first called in for questioning.

The trial comes amid at least 20 public allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior against Depardieu, which have destroyed his reputation as one of France’s most celebrated actors.

Depardieu alluded to this in Tuesday’s hearing, complaining how he had not worked for more than three years.

“I think this affair had been completely instrumentalised by the media,” he said, noting how the daughter of actress Fanny Ardant had been attacked for her mother’s public support of him.

He also took aim at the feminist activists who have protested about his seeming impunity in the face of a growing list of sexual assault accusations against him.

“When I was in Marseille with those banners saying ‘Depardieu rapist’, the words about me on TV, ‘his big, disgusting rapist fingers’, those aren’t women,” he told the court going on to cite a phrase from 18th Century woman of letters Madame de Staël.

“They would do well to meditate on Madame de Staël: ‘For women, fame is but the dazzling mourning of happiness’,” he said on her reflection that it is difficult for women to have both worldly success and happiness.

If found guilty, Depardieu could face a sentence of up to five years in jail and a 75,000-euro ($81,000) fine.

Originally scheduled to run March 24 and 25, the trial has been extended into tomorrow.