Gerard Depardieu mid-flight pee reduces Anderson Cooper to giggling fit

French film star Gerard Depardieu

AMERICAN CNN presenter Anderson Cooper was reduced to a giggling, teary mess as he recounted "news" of French actor Gerard Depardieu being thrown off an Air France flight for urinating in the middle of a packed cabin.

Depardieu, one of France's best-known actors, has reportedly blamed prostate problems for the midflight "jet stream" (Cooper's words), somewhere between Paris and Dublin.

"All I can say is they should thank their lucky stars it wasn't Depar-two," Anderson said before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

And, moving the story from the the ridiculous to the sublime, one report claims that there was spillage, and that Depardieu's travelling companion, actor Edouard Baer, had blamed a mini-Evian bottle that was "too small" for Depardieu.

Meanwhile, a fellow passenger has reportedly told the Telegraph that before standing up and urinating on the cabin floor, Depardieu exclaimed: "I need to piss, I need to piss."

The Golden Globe winner had been drinking, a passenger also claimed.

Depardieu - who starred in several American films, including Green Card - was "sorry" for the episode, Baer reportedly told Europe 1 radio, the Telegraph reported.

Baer - who co-stars in Asterix: God Save Britannia, which is being filmed in Ireland - said: "Gerard Depardieu wanted to go to the lavatory... He was barred access. We were not far off taking off, so he urinated in front of everyone. I passed him a small bottle.

"He couldn't wait, so I found this solution. I had a little Evian bottle with me, only it was too small so it overflowed. He wanted to clear it up, but the hostess wouldn't let him.

"It was naturally very embarrassing and humiliating for him. He didn't do any grand gestures and shout, 'I'm going to piss.' Whatever the larger-than-life nature of my friend Gerard, no one is that crazy."

Baer blamed the incident on health problems.

"No one is flattered to have a dodgy prostate and be obliged to urinate. But the [flight attendant] panicked and said the plane must stay on the tarmac," he said. "I stopped him because he wanted to go and explain to the crew, he was sorry and he was furious, but didn't lose his temper."