(Paris) Personalities from the world of French culture denounce a “lynching” of Gérard Depardieu, indicted for rape since 2020 and at the heart of a controversy after a television documentary, support denounced by feminists who qualify him as “ spit in the victims’ faces.
Around sixty personalities including the director Bertrand Blier, the actresses Nathalie Baye, Carole Bouquet or Charlotte Rampling, the actors Jacques Weber, Pierre Richard or Gérard Darmon, but also the singers Roberto Alagna, Carla Bruni, Arielle Dombasle or Jacques Dutronc, have published this column Monday evening on the Figaro website.
“Gérard Depardieu is probably the greatest actor. The last sacred monster of cinema. We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that fell upon him, in the face of the torrent of hatred that pours down on his person, without nuance, in the most complete amalgamation and in defiance of a presumption of innocence of which he would have benefited, like everyone else, if he were not the giant of cinema that he is,” they write in this text.
“When we attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, it is art that we attack. Through his genius as an actor, Gérard Depardieu contributes to the artistic influence of our country. […] Whatever happens, no one will ever be able to erase the indelible trace of his work which has forever marked our time. The rest, everything else, concerns justice; than justice. Exclusively,” they add.
Enough to rekindle the anger of feminist associations.
“It’s a very educational forum. What we see is how an entourage will organize itself and use arguments such as “he’s a holy monster, he’s a genius” to protect someone,” he told AFP. the president of the Women’s Foundation, Anne-Cécile Mailfert.
“A spit in the face of the victims”
Emmanuelle Dancourt, co-founder of #MeTooMedias, said she was “appalled”.
“I have the impression that there is a misunderstanding when I hear about the torrent of hatred pouring out on Depardieu… There is never revenge [de la part de victimes de violences sexuelles, NDLR]but a need to protect others,” she stressed on the French channel BFMTV.
“It’s a spit in the face of the victims of violence,” the “Nous Tous” collective reacted to AFP.
“We don’t understand that the world of culture is mobilizing, we should use this voice to support the victims,” according to Tatiana, activist of the collective.
The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and members of the actor’s family, including his daughter Julie, had already spoken publicly to defend Gérard Depardieu, indicted following one of the two complaints he made object in France and which refutes these accusations.
The recent broadcast of a report on the actor, in the show Further investigation on the France 2 channel, caused a shock wave, with international repercussions.
In these images, Gérard Depardieu, known for having played Cyrano de Bergerac, multiplies misogynistic and insulting remarks while addressing women, not sparing a little girl with remarks of a sexual nature when she passes on horseback at the picture.
The France Télévisions group assured Friday that this last passage had been “authenticated” by a bailiff. This reaction came after statements by the Head of State on France 5 suggesting that the sequence could have been modified during editing, as the actor’s family had previously claimed.
Since the scandal, Gérard Depardieu has been removed from the National Order of Quebec and his title of honorary citizen of the commune of Estaimpuis (Belgium), while his wax statue has been removed from the museum’s tour route. Grévin in Paris.