French actor Gérard Depardieu, indicted for rape since 2020, puts his Legion of Honor “at the disposal” of the Minister of Culture who announced a disciplinary procedure which could lead to the withdrawal of this distinction, his lawyers indicated on Saturday in a press release sent to AFP.
The latter question the approach of the minister, Rima Abdul Malak, wondering if she “does not carry […] not thus an additional blow to an already dying presumption of innocence.”
Gérard Depardieu, 74, has been indicted since 2020 for rape, following a complaint from a French actress, Charlotte Arnould – accusations that he contests.
Maîtres Béatrice Geissmann Achille and Christian Saint-Palais also wonder if it is in the “function” of Rima Abdul Malak to participate “also actively in the manhunt” and the “media lynching” which they believe their client is about.
Mme Abdul Malak announced Friday that a council of the order of the Legion of Honor would “meet and initiate a disciplinary procedure to decide whether this Legion of Honor should be suspended or not, withdrawn completely or not.”
“It will be up to them to decide,” she said on the France 5 channel.
Gérard Depardieu received the Legion of Honor from President Jacques Chirac in 1996.
Misogynistic and insulting comments
Created by Emperor Napoleon I at the beginning of the 19th centurye century, this distinction rewards civilians and soldiers for acts and services rendered to France. Many artists are awarded it.
The code of the Legion of Honor provides that “behavior contrary to honor” can lead to reprimand, suspension or exclusion from the order.
The minister also said she was “disgusted”, during a trip on Friday, by the comments and attitude of the actor during a trip to North Korea in 2018, which “shame France” .
In these images, revealed by a report from the program “Complément d’investigation” broadcast on the France 2 channel at the beginning of December, the ex-sacred monster of French cinema multiplies the misogynistic and insulting remarks while addressing women, including a little girl.
“A contested and questionable program which broadcasts a montage of images captured in the intimate and private sphere,” criticize the actor’s lawyers in their press release on Saturday.
Concomitantly with the broadcast of “Complément d’investigation”, a second complaint for sexual assault was filed by the French actress Hélène Darras, for facts a priori prescribed, dating back to 2007 on a shoot. The actor also denies these accusations.
Furthermore, an investigation into the causes of death was opened after the death in early December of actress Emmanuelle Debever, 60, who allegedly committed suicide. She had accused Gérard Depardieu of sexual violence, notably in a Facebook post from 2019, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Wednesday.