is it true that France Télévisions has committed to no longer broadcast films with the actor?

France 2 broadcast a film on Sunday in which Gérard Depardieu plays. Therefore, Internet users accused the France Télévisions group of not having kept its commitment to remove the actor accused of sexual violence from its programming. But it’s wrong.

Internet users were surprised to see Gérard Depardieu on screen, Sunday December 17, in the film Illusions lost, broadcast on France 2. Because, according to them, the France Télévisions group had announced that it would no longer broadcast a film with the actor accused of rape and sexual assault.

But it is false, France Télévisions denies it. “There is no boycott, we do not censor the works. Sometimes, it may be necessary to contextualize them. I am speaking in general, beyond the case of Gérard Depardieu”, corrects Manuel Alduy, director of the cinema division of France Télévisions. “On the other hand, we refrain from celebrating the participants in these works who are caught up in collective accusations,” he explains to our colleague from France Inter, Alexandra Ackoun.

These Internet users, however, relied on articles. One of the first was published by the site jeanmarcmorandini.com: “The director of cinema at France Télévisions, Manuel Alduy, announces that he will suspend the broadcast of films starring Gérard Depardieu on all of the Group’s channels and will refuse any new production in which the actor could appear., we can read. The person concerned immediately denied X: “Hello morandiniblog. Don’t hesitate to look for further investigation on this point, that’s not exactly what is said.”

In the magazine Complément d’investigation, entitled “the fall of the ogre” and broadcast on Thursday December 7, Manuel Alduy discussed the investigation published by Médiapart last April. Journalist Marine Turchi collected testimonies accusing Gérard Depardieu of sexual violence. “The collective indictment by around fifteen women had the immediate consequences for us to completely review our distribution plans. We shouldn’t celebrate Gérard Depardieu, it’s just not possible. This is the first thing for us. The second is that we put on hold the possible projects that would be submitted to us with Gérard Depardieu”, declared the cinema director of France Télévisions.

“No boycott” but no spotlight either

Manuel Alduy regrets that his words have been overinterpreted. It is not a question of prohibiting the broadcasting of films with Gérard Depardieu, as was the case on Sunday evening as part of “classic, weekly programming”. On the other hand, no special evening honoring the actor because that “would suggest that we are indifferent, which is not true and not fair”, would like to highlight Manuel Alduy. Thus, after the publication of the Médiapart article, France Télévisions decided not to broadcast a film with Gérard Depardieu in the title role during the Cannes festival. “We removed the film and we will broadcast it in a normal box”, he specifies before adding: “That’s the suspension that happened, and it was six months ago.”

Will France Télévisions finance new films with Gérard Depardieu?

According to Manuel Alduy, “the question does not arise” since the group did not receive a project “with Gérard Depardieu in the title role for 18 months”. Without adopting a firm position, he confided on France Inter that the group “would have difficulty” to finance new films with the actor, “without further development in current cases.

However, he continues, “I am quite convinced that projects will come back with Gérard Depardieu, if he wants them, and we will judge”. The director of the cinema division of France Télévisions believes that the time when “Films made on his name are finished”.