Actor Gérard Depardieu may have to face Italian justice after he allegedly punched a paparazzi several times in the face in the center of Rome, Tuesday May 21, 2024, while he was having lunch with a young woman presented as his companion.
The affair has already caused a lot of ink to flow since it was relayed by our Italian colleagues from Daily National… The actor Gérard Depardieu could be the target of a complaint from a paparazzi after an alleged attack which allegedly took place in the center of Rome on Tuesday May 21, visibly early in the afternoon. According to the daily, the 75-year-old actor, who is also facing French justice after several women filed complaints of rape and sexual assault against him, previously had lunch with several people including a young woman who is presented as his companion.
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The journalist known in the industry – Rino Barillari – allegedly tried to take photos of the crowd gathered for lunch at Harry’s Bar. The young woman in question would have very quickly attacked him, grabbing him by the arm, before Gérard Depardieu in turn got up for him punch the face several times.
A violent scene in the heart of Rome
In an interview given to the Italian media La StampaRino Barillari says he had to be taken to hospital after the authorities went to the scene, informed of the incident. “Depardieu hit me three times in the face. I have a headache, and oh, I’m not 15 anymore, I’m 79″, he said, stressing that he had been kept for some time under observation. He also explains that he had previously tried to “photograph discreetly with a very beautiful girl”. “She noticed and threw a glass of ice at me. I didn’t expect what happened next”he said, before confirming that the hero of The goat then arrived. “I didn’t have time to understand what was happening before he hit me three times in the face.”he assured.
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One of his colleagues who witnessed the scene reported to La Repubblica that he thought he was witnessing “a scene from the 1960s”. “I saw with my own eyes Depardieu start to punch Barillari before the carabinieri arrived who questioned several witnesses. And then an ambulance arrived to take Barillari away. This is where Depardieu left in a car on Via Veneto.”he in turn said, confirming the first version of the facts.
Gérard Depardieu gives his own version of the facts
Shortly after, the French actor and the woman who accompanied him shared their own, different version, through a press release from their lawyer Delphine Meillet. “Rino Barillari, too known for his photos than for his aggressive methods, violently pushed Gérard Depardieu’s partner. Faced with the violence of the situation, Gérard Depardieu, who intervened between the paparazzi and his partner, fell and slipped on him. The famous actor and his partner then got into the car, the photographer persisting despite everything that had just happened to bludgeon them with photos., they say. We also insist on the fact that this photographer is not “not at his first altercation” and that he “claims nearly 170 trips to medical emergencies for fighting with celebrities who refused to be photographed”.
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Justice will have to decide, but whatever happens, the case has already made the front page of the Italian press. Could Gérard Depardieu be swept up in a new media storm after that sparked last December by an issue of the show Further investigation broadcast last December on France 2.
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