French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Gerard Depardieu and rejected the idea of stripping the actor of the Legion of Honor based on a single television report. In an interview aired on France 5, Macron called the notion an order that should not be read as moral judgment.
“You cannot strip an artist of the Legion of Honor simply on the basis of a TV news report”, Macron stated.
He was responding to material aired by the France 2 channel about Depardieu’s alleged sexual harassment. The president also reaffirmed the presumption of innocence and indicated that he would not participate in a public “hunt” for anyone.
“I only want it to be fair to him. He should be able to defend his rights like anyone else”, Macron said.
What are the allegations against Depardieu?
Gerard Depardieu has faced multiple accusations of rape or sexual harassment. One young actress, Charlotte Arnault, alleged that the actor assaulted her twice at his Paris home in 2018 during informal rehearsal settings.
Depardieu published an open letter in which he claimed Arnault had come to his home and entered his bedroom of her own free will. He argued that the young woman did not appreciate something and that it led to a police complaint against him.
A criminal case was opened but later closed. Arnault subsequently filed another complaint. In March 2022, the court indicated that the case would not be closed due to the seriousness of the evidence, according to Reuters.
Arnault was one of 13 women who accused Depardieu of sexual harassment. Mediapart published an investigation in April 2023 based on their statements, noting that incidents reportedly occurred between 2004 and 2022. The women described predominately on-set incidents, including at the Marseille TV series set and the film The Other Dumas, with patterns of groping, inappropriate remarks, and suggestive behavior by the actor toward young actresses and crew members.
Journalists from Mediapart contacted twenty producers and project directors who had worked on these sets. Only one person, Fabien Onteniente, said he had been warned that Depardieu had become heavy with the girls. Ten others said they were unaware of the accusations, and the remaining nine did not respond. Depardieu has denied the accusations, stating in his letter that he has never harmed women.
“The Fall of the Ogre”
On November 30, France 2 aired a documentary titled Additional Investigation in which four women described episodes of violence by Depardieu. The channel also aired a film called Depardieu: The Fall of the Cannibal, featuring previously unseen footage from a 2018 trip to North Korea that some viewers consider to contain sexist language and depicted gestures that could be construed as disrespectful toward women.
The Depardieu family issued a statement describing the allegations as an “unprecedented conspiracy” following the publication of Supplementary Investigation. Close associates of the actor maintained that Depardieu sometimes plays provocative roles that can unsettle some viewers, but argued that words should not be equated with actions.
In a separate development, the family argued that recent criticism was inconsistent with past conduct meant to create a lively on-set atmosphere and that using Depardieu’s verbal provocations to bolster other allegations was unfair.
On December 19, another claim surfaced when Spanish journalist Ruth Basa alleged a 1995 sexual assault by the actor during a Paris interview for Cinemanía. Basa reported to the Malaga police that Depardieu kissed her on the face and neck and touched her inappropriately when she was 23 years old. La Vanguardia noted that the Spanish police later classified the incident as rape in their reports.