Gérard Depardieu Accused of Punching the ‘King of Paparazzi’
French film star Gérard Depardieu allegedly punched a photographer dubbed “the king of paparazzi” three times in the face during an altercation in Rome on Tuesday.
The incident took place at Harry’s Bar on the city’s Via Veneto. The 75-year-old actor allegedly struck Rino Barillari after the photographer was repeatedly asked to stop taking pictures, according to a journalist who witnessed the scuffle.
Gianni Riotta, an Italian newspaper columnist who claims to have seen what unfolded at Harry’s bar, told The New York Times that Barillari was followed out of the venue by a shouting woman who had been sitting with Depardieu. The actor then reached Barillari and “hit him, hit him, hit him,” Riotta said. “There was a lot of blood.”