“It’s no longer a gap, it’s a gaping hole”: President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of film star Gérard Depardieu has reignited antagonism in France between the head of state and feminists.
In an interview on France 5 on Wednesday evening, the Head of State said he was a “great admirer” of the actor, targeted in particular by two complaints in France for rape and sexual assault, and indicted in one of the two cases.
“He made France, our great authors, our great characters known throughout the world […] he makes France proud,” continued Emmanuel Macron. Last week, the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul-Malak, had on the contrary affirmed that the actor brought “shame” to the country.
Giant of French cinema, known for having played Commissioner Maigret as Cyrano, Gérard Depardieu refutes accusations of rape and sexual assault.
The president’s remarks “are not only scandalous, but dangerous, it sends a signal to continue not believing the victims, to trample on their words with complete impunity”, told AFP Maëlle Noir, from the National Coordination of the “All of Us” collective.
“It is extremely violent, a huge step backwards in the political stance taken against violence committed against women.” “Between us and the head of state, it is no longer a gap, it is a gaping hole,” she says.
A French national icon in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, known throughout the world, Gérard Depardieu has long seemed to benefit from a certain indulgence.
And this, even after his indictment for rape, in 2020, following a complaint from an actress then aged around twenty, Charlotte Arnould, facts which he refutes.
“Masculinist” beliefs
The broadcast at the beginning of December of a report from the show Further investigation on the France 2 television channel caused a new shock wave. We see this figure of French cinema multiplying misogynistic and insulting remarks while addressing women, not even sparing a little girl.
At the Women’s Foundation, President Anne-Cécile Mailfert, for her part, singles out Emmanuel Macron’s “masculinist” convictions and indicates that she no longer has “any hope” or “illusion” about him regarding issues of women’s rights. .
“We are clearly in the culture of rape, in the discourse which aims to reverse the guilt: it is no longer Gérard Depardieu the hunter, the predator, it is the women who would hunt the men, who would target them”.
“It is all the more serious as we are talking about the President of the Republic, his words commit our country and have a real impact,” she told AFP.
“He could have said that it is unbearable to talk like that about women, that equality between women and men is enshrined in the Constitution, he could have had a message for the victims of Gérard Depardieu and women in general . He did not do it “.
Emmanuel Macron’s position is a “constant”, believes the president of the Women’s Foundation. She recalls his comments in recent years denouncing “a society of the inquisition” or even “the era of suspicion” during accusations of sexual violence brought against men of power.
These tensions between the Head of State and feminist associations put an end to the relative appeasement which had prevailed since the presentation in mid-December of a constitutional bill aiming to include the freedom to resort to abortion (voluntary interruption of pregnancy) in the Constitution.
As for Emmanuel Macron’s declarations, saying he was “unassailable” on Wednesday evening on the fight against violence against women and on gender equality, major causes of his five-year term, they are “irrelevant”, adds Louise Delavier of the association “En avant tout(s)”.
Certainly “things have been done” since 2017, welcomes the feminist activist.
But “there is still a lot to accomplish. The number of feminicides is not decreasing, violence continues to be reported every day, structures close even though they are sometimes the only ones in an area able to provide security and accommodation for women.”