Wednesday evening, the President of the Republic defended the actor, targeted by three complaints for rape and sexual assault and indicted for three years. A position that deeply shocked.
“A president shouldn’t say that.” This is one of the comments, signed by Emmanuelle Dancourt, co-founder of #MeTooMedia, who welcomed Emmanuel Macron’s statements on Gérard Depardieu. The Head of State was questioned, Wednesday December 20, in “C à vous”, on France 5, on the possible withdrawal of the Legion of Honor from the actor, indicted for three years for rape, targeted by multiple accusations of sexual violence and filmed making misogynistic and obscene remarks during a trip to North Korea in 2018.
The President of the Republic took up the cause of Gérard Depardieu. “One thing you will never see me in is manhunts. I hate it.”he said in particular, ensuring that the actor made “proud of France”. These statements were strongly criticized. Here’s why.
Because the president did not have a word of empathy for the complainants
In addition to the multiplication of inappropriate and degrading remarks towards women, and even a minor, as revealed in the documentary “Complément d’investigation” broadcast on December 7 on France 2, Gérard Depardieu is indicted since December 2020 for rape and sexual assaultafter a complaint from actress Charlotte Arnould, for facts dating back to 2018, at the actor’s Parisian home. Two other complaints have since been filed, one by the actress Hélène Darras, for acts of sexual assault dating back to 2007, the other by Spanish journalist and writer Ruth Baza for acts of rape dating back to 1995. Around fifteen women, actresses, extras, makeup artists and even technicians have also publicly accused the movie star of gender-based and sexual violence. The actor denies these accusations.
Questioned on Wednesday evening on this subject, Emmanuel Macron did not mention these complaints or these testimonies. “Maybe there are victims, and I respect them so much, and I want them to be able to defend their rights”he simply declared, before insisting at length on the importance of “the presumption of innocence”. “We cannot begin to say that just anyone will be in public court”he argued, saying “great admirer of Gérard Depardieu (…) an immense actor” Who “makes France proud”.
“Just… It’s really hard.”reacted Charlotte Arnould on her Instagram account. “He spoke about Gérard Depardieu, his talent and the presumption of innocence. I am going to tell you about the 14 women attacked, the humiliated women, the women upset by the images they saw, all these women who see through Gérard Depardieu what violence, domination, contempt can be”for his part declared former President François Hollande, Thursday on France Inter.
Same analysis from the Women’s Foundation. “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”observed the president of the foundation, Anne-Cécile Mailfert, to AFP.
Because his reaction to Harvey Weinstein’s Legion of Honor was different
Emmanuel Macron disavowed his own Minister of Culture regarding a possible withdrawal of the Legion of Honor from Gérard Depardieu. While Rima Abdul Malak announced on December 15, also in the program “C à vous”, that one “disciplinary procedure” was going to be initiated by the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor against the film star, decorated in 1996, thehe President of the Republic affirmed that he did not intend to endorse this decision. The Legion of Honour, of which he is the grand master of the order, “is not here to preach”, judged the head of state, considering that his minister had “a bit too much” advanced.
Notwithstanding the fact that“good morals” figures well among the “preconditions” for the award of the distinctionAlice Augustin, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine She, recalled Thursday on franceinfo “that the Legion of Honor can be withdrawn in the event of an act contrary to honor or likely to harm the interests of France”. Above all, in an open letter from the editorial team published by the women’s magazine, the journalists recall that Emmanuel Macron had “took steps to strip Harvey Weinstein of his Legion of Honor in October 2017, even before any court decision [aux Etats-Unis]“.
“Double standards, the art of saying everything at once and its opposite, like a new violence committed against women today by Emmanuel Macron.”
The editorial staff of “Elle”in an open letter to the head of state
The American film producer, since convicted twice for rape and sexual assault, was decorated in 2012 by Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2019, two years after the steps taken by Emmanuel Macron, the famous distinction had still not been withdrawn from him, as revealed Release. Contacted by franceinfo to find out if this withdrawal was finally successful, the Elysée sent us on Friday afternoon to the grand chancellery of the Legion of Honor, which had not yet responded to our requests at the time of writing. write these lines.
Because this position is seen as a “betrayal” of the great national cause
“I am unassailable on the fight against (…) violence against women and for equality between women and men, these are the two great causes of my two five-year terms”, assured Emmanuel Macron in “C à vous”. It is precisely for this reason that his defense of Gérard Depardieu and his formula of “manhunt” constitute, according to the collective All of Us, “a huge setback in political positions taken against violence committed against women”. Louise Delavier, from the association En avant tout(s), denounced to the AFP a “at the same time” of the head of state, “who is not happy on these subjects”.
“Making so much communication to talk about the defense of women and their rights, and then outrageously defending someone like Depardieu, that creates cognitive dissonance.”
Louise Delavier, from the En avant tout(s) associationto AFP
Feminist activist Andréa Bescond, for her part, challenged the President of the Republic, addressing him informally in a long post published on Instagram: “You said you were fully committed to the fight against violence, man, that’s not just in the title of your five-year term, are you aware of that?” Suzy Rojtman, spokesperson for the National Collective for Women’s Rights, also does not hide her disillusionment: with “the president is one step forward, five steps back”she told AFP.
“I cannot imagine that a President of the Republic, and in particular Emmanuel Macron, would not choose his words.”reports on franceinfo Michelle Dayan, lawyer and president of the Lawyers For Women (L4W) association. “Manhunt… There is above all a hunt for women, at least in the words of Gérard Depardieu, and not a manhunt”she continues, emphasizing that violence against women “don’t start in the police stations” Or “in criminal courts” but “in the image we have of women”.
For magazine journalists Shethe head of state “asséné” A “symbolic blow” to the “cause of women” And “revealed his true face: that of a man who sides with predators” and who does “believe in your commitment to women to better betray them”.