Criminal enquiry is launched into 'mysterious death' of actress who jumped into the Seine and died the same day she was seen on French TV accusing Gerard Depardieu of molesting her

A criminal enquiry has been opened into the 'mysterious death' of a French actress who had accused Gérard Depardieu of sexual violence, Paris prosecutors said today.

It is now feared that the last hours of Emmanuelle Debever, 60, may be linked to multiple abuse accusations levelled by women against the 74-year-old film star.

There were even claims on Thursday that a complaint of rape filed by Ms Debever against Depardieu had been dropped because of lack of evidence, and was never made public.

Depardieu, who made his name in hit films such as Green Card and The Last Metro, has already been charged with rape in connection with an alleged attack on another young actress, but vehemently denies all the accusations against him.

Ms Debever disappeared from the home she shared with an unidentified partner in Paris late last month, before apparently jumping off a bridge in the French capital eight days later.

She survived the fall, and was plucked out of the water by emergency workers, but died in hospital shortly afterwards.

This was on December 7 – the exact day a new documentary entitled Gérard Depardieu: The Fall of the Ogre was broadcast across France.

It contained disturbing details of an alleged attack by Depardieu on Ms Debever, when she was still a teenager.

It was originally thought that Ms Debever committed suicide, but when detectives became aware of numerous accusations being made against Depardieu in the France 2 programme, the direction of the enquiry changed.

A spokesman for Paris prosecutors said: 'The fact was then mentioned in the media that this actress [Ms Debever] had complained about inappropriate behavior from Gérard Depardieu, in particular through a post on Facebook in 2019.

'In view of this new element, an investigation into the causes of [Ms Debever's] death was opened.'

It was entrusted to judicial police who must 'investigate the circumstances which may have led to this mysterious death,' said the spokesman.

Outlining the chronology of Ms Debever's last days, another investigating source said her unidentified partner first reported her missing on November 29.

'He said she had left their home leaving a worrying note,' said the source, who added that a specialist police unit began investigating.

Just over a week later – on December 7 – beat officers in Paris's 7th arrondissement reported that 'a woman had jumped from a bridge into the Seine.' She was revived by emergency workers, and rushed away for treatment, but died in hospital.

In a Facebook post four years ago, Ms Debever said Depardieu groped her when she was 19, in 1982. They were in a horse-drawn carriage on the set of Danton, the French Revolution period film that came out a year later.

'This monster allowed himself to enjoy plenty during filming, making the most of the intimacy inside a carriage,' she wrote. 'Sliding his fat paw under my skirt to, in his words, make me feel better... me, I didn't want to let it happen.'

Another investigating source said there were even claims that a rape allegation had been filed by Ms Debever against Depardieu in 2019, but this has not yet been confirmed by prosecutors.

A week ago, another French actress become the second woman to file a formal sex attack complaint against Depardieu, saying he treated her like 'a piece of meat'.

Paris prosecutors confirmed that Hélène Darras, 43, reported Depardieu in September. The pair appeared together in the 2007 film Disco, when Darras was 26, and allegedly assaulted.

Waiving her legal right to anonymity, Ms Darras told the same Further Investigation (Complément d'enquete) documentary series: 'He [Depardieu] is unmanageable.

'He looks at me as if I were a piece of meat. I have an ultra-tight dress, he pulls me closer to him by the waist, then he runs his hand over my hips, over my bum.' 

Ms Darras said Depardieu smelled of 'spilled alcohol' as he invited her to his dressing room.

She said she was initially scared of complaining about the 'king of the show', so waited 16 years to go the authorities.

It follows at least 14 other women joining alleged rape victim Charlotte Arnould, now 28, in accusing the actor of criminal behaviour.

There is CCTV footage of Depardieu performing a sex act on Arnould at his Paris mansion in August 2018, but he insists it was consensual.

Ms Arnould renounced her legal right to anonymity at the end of 2021, following Depardieu being charged with rape and sexual assault.

Within a few days of his indictment, Depardieu was back working on the Seine River location of the police drama Maigret And The Dead Girl, in which he starred with Jade Labeste.

In October, he broke his silence over claims that he is a serial sex abuser saying: 'I am neither a rapist nor a predator.'

Accusing enemies of subjecting him to a 'lynching' in the media, he expressed his anger in an open letter in Le Figaro newspaper.

Paris-based investigative news site Mediapart has published a dossier outlining how Depardieu regularly preyed on victims during productions including Marseille, the Netflix crime drama.

'Never, never have I abused a woman,' he wrote.'Hurting a woman would be like kicking my own mother's tummy.'

Depardieu went on to admit that his often drunk behaviour might have been hurtful and shocking, but said: 'I am neither a rapist nor a predator.'

The Charlotte Arnould case is currently making its way through the French courts after an attempt by Depardieu's counsel to get the charges overturned was overruled.

Accusations against Dépardieu follow a series of #MeToo complaints against powerful men in the Paris arts establishment who are said to have raped or otherwise abused young women working as models and actresses.

Such scandals have led to demonstrations by women's groups at high-profile showbusiness events, as they call for female actors to stop working with allegedly abusive men.