Rino Barillari, nicknamed the “King of the Paparazzi” in Italy, claims to have been attacked by Gérard Depardieu this Tuesday, May 21 in a bar on a famous Roman avenue. The French star, for her part, claims to have “interposed between the paparazzo and his companion “.
The events took place around 2 p.m. this Tuesday at Harry’s Bar, via Vittorio Veneto according to the Roman daily Il Messaggero. The French actor was having lunch on the terrace with other people when Rino Barillari approached the table and began to secretly photograph Gérard Depardieu and his guests.
“ I saw him in Via Veneto with a woman. I came closer to take some photoss,” said the 79-year-old photographer, quoted by Il Messaggero. According to his account, it was first of all the woman accompanying the actor, who turned out to be his partner Magda Vavrusova, who tried to block him, then it was Gérard Depardieu himself who intervened and told him punched him three times in the face.
Two very different versions
In the evening, the actor and his partner gave their version of the facts through a press release from their lawyer at the Paris bar, Delphine Meillet: “Rino Barillari, as well known for his photos as for his aggressive methods, violently pushed Gérard Depardieu’s partner”.
“The photographer pushed me by touching my bust and my chest with his arm (…) I still hurt, it was extremely violent”she declared to the Roman police officers before whom she filed a complaint for violence, according to her lawyer.
“Faced with the violence of the situation, Gérard Depardieu, who intervened between the paparazzi and his partner, fell and slipped on him”still according to the lawyer. “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. »
The actor’s partner claimed that “this photographer, who is not his first altercation, claims nearly 170 trips to the emergency room for having fought with celebrities who refused to be photographed”.
For his part, the photographer, contacted by telephone late in the afternoon by Agence France-Presse, was unable to respond: “I can’t talk, I’m in the hospital. » According to Il Messaggero, who managed to question him before his hospitalization, the photographer also plans to file a complaint.
Depardieu, a fading star
Rino Barillari, who started his career very young, experienced the golden age of La Dolce Vita in Rome, where he photographed celebrities like Liz Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastroianni.
At 75, Gérard Depardieu, sacred monster of French cinema, sees his star fading. He is due to be tried in October in Paris for sexual assault on two women during filming in 2021. He has also been indicted since 2020 for rape and sexual assault on a young actress, Charlotte Arnould. Several other complaints have been filed against the star, who denies the facts with which he is accused.
