French President Emmanuel Macron sided with Gerard Depardieu and did not support the actor’s deprivation of the Legion of Honor. In an interview with a television channel France 5 The French leader said that this was “an order not given to read morals”.
“You cannot deprive an artist of the Legion of Honor simply based on a television news report,” Macron said.
This is how he reacted to the material published by the France 2 TV channel, dedicated to Depardieu’s sexual harassment accusations.
The French President also reminded the presumption of innocence and added that he would never participate in the “hunt” of a person.
“I just want it [Жерар Депердье] “He can defend his rights like everyone else,” Macron said.
What did 13 women accuse Depardieu of?
Gerard Depardieu has been accused of rape or sexual harassment on more than one occasion. Young actress Charlotte Arnault said that the actor raped her twice at his home in Paris in 2018. The girl claimed that she came to Depardieu for “rehearsals in an informal setting”
Depardieu himself in an open letter statedShe said Arno personally came to her home and “entered her bedroom of his own free will.” The actor believes that the girl doesn’t like something, so he files a police complaint against her.
A criminal case was opened against Depardieu but was later closed. However, Arno filed a new complaint. In March 2022, the court stated that the case would not be closed due to the presence of serious evidence, the agency reported. Reuters.
Charlotte Arnault was one of 13 women who accused Gerard Depardieu of sexual harassment. French portal Mediapart in April 2023 published An investigation was launched based on their statements. According to the portal, all incidents occurred between 2004 and 2022.
Women said this mostly happened on movie sets. For example, on the set of the TV series “Marseille” and in the movie “The Other Dumas”. Depardieu always acted according to the same pattern: “groping” young actresses, make-up artists and other staff, allowing him to make suggestive comments about them and “moaning constantly.”
The publication also says that other members of the film crew either ignored or laughed at the actor’s behavior. Mediapart journalists contacted 20 producers and project directors who were on the film sets where these events took place. Only one person, Disco manager Fabien Onteniente, said he had been warned that Depardieu was “getting heavy with the girls”. While the other 10 people said they did not know anything about what was happening, the remaining nine people did not answer.
The actor himself denies these accusations. In his letter, Depardieu writes that he has never harmed women.
“Fall of the Ogre”
On November 30, a film called “Additional Investigation” was broadcast on France 2. In it, four women talked about cases of violence by Gerard Depardieu.
The TV channel showed another film: “Depardieu: The Fall of the Cannibal”. It includes never-before-seen footage from the actor’s trip to North Korea in 2018. In these, he uses sexist expressions and imitates sexual intercourse with his lips and hands in the presence of women.
The Depardieu family described the accusations against the actor as an “unprecedented conspiracy” following the publication of the “Supplementary Investigation”. reports RIA News. Those close to Depardieu insist that even in everyday life he plays roles that can shock sensitive people. But do not confuse words and actions.
“He is being criticized today for something he encouraged yesterday, which made many people laugh on set to break the atmosphere… Using Gerard’s verbal provocations to reinforce other (so far false) accusations is extremely dishonest,” the actor’s family says.
On December 19, Depardieu was accused of harassment again. Spanish journalist Ruth Basa said she was sexually assaulted by the actor in 1995. He later came to Paris to interview her for Cinemanía magazine.
Basa filed a complaint with the Malaga police. In it, she wrote that Gerard Depardieu kissed her on the face and neck and touched her under her clothes. The journalist was 23 years old at that time.
La Vanguardia newspaper writes that the Spanish police classified the incident as rape.