French actor Gérard Depardieu made peace with Italian photographer Rino Barillari on Mondaywho sued him for assault from May 2024 in Rome. The trial, which began in June 2025, with that he finishedthe AFP agency reported, writes TASR.
According to AFP Depardieu and Barillari walked out of court as friends, with a photographer kissing the actor on the cheek. Depardieu gave a thumbs up and shook the Italian’s hand. “Today I withdrew the complaint because (Depardieu) apologized not only to me but to all Italians,” added by the photographer.
Barillari testified in court last fall, while the 76-year-old accused the French actor of punching him several times outside Harry’s bar in Rome on May 21, 2024. The skirmish took place in the presence of Depardieu’s partner of Czech origin, Magda Vavrušová. Both the actor and the photographer subsequently filed a criminal complaint, while each described the course of the fight differently.
Depardieu, together with the actress and producer living in France, had lunch at Harry’s Bar on Rome’s famous Via Veneto street. Barillari started photographing the couple, which, according to witnesses, upset Vavrušová.
Present publicist Gianni Riotta told the media that Vavrušová ran into the street after the departing photographer and attacked him. According to him, Depardieu also got involved in the fight. who punched the photographer several times. Then the police arrived at the scene.
Barillari has had a long career photographing celebrities including Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Gina Lollobrigida. According to his words, during his 60-year career, he was treated as an outpatient more than 200 times, had 11 broken ribs and 82 destroyed cameras. In the media, he is often referred to as the king of the paparazzi.
Depardieu, who has dominated French cinema for half a century, has faced several scandals in recent years. He was given an 18-month suspended sentence by a Paris court in 2025 after finding him guilty in 2021 of sexually assaulting two women during the filming of the film. At the time, the court also ordered Depardieu to be placed on the sex offenders register.
