Actor denies assault and says he was following advice of his then lawyer when he previously told police there had been no physical contact

The French actor Gérard Depardieu has admitted in court that he grabbed the hips of a woman who has accused him of sexual assault, but said it was to avoid slipping and was not a sexual attack.

“I grabbed her hips,” the actor, 76, told his trial for sexual assault at the Paris criminal court on Tuesday. The head judge noted that this was a change from his testimony during police interrogation when he had denied that any physical contact had taken place with the 54-year-old set decorator.