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Associated Press

More than 50 French performers, writers and producers published an essay defending film star and national icon Gerard Depardieu amid growing scrutiny of his behaviour toward women during his five-decade career.
Advocates for sexual abuse victims expressed dismay at the outpouring of support.
Depardieu was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould, and has been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. Depardieu denies wrongdoing, and called the essay ‘’beautiful”.
Published Tuesday in the conservative-leaning Le Figaro, it was signed by figures including former first lady and singer Carla Bruni, Depardieu’s former partner Carole Bousquet, and actors Pierre Richard, Charlotte Rampling and Victoria Abril.

Two dozen of the 56 signatories were women. Many are from Depardieu’s generation; he is 74.
A recent documentary outlined accusations of sexual misconduct by 16 women against Depardieu, and showed the actor making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea. The France-2 documentary prompted calls by some to stop airing Depardieu’s films, which include classics of modern French cinema.
French actor Depardieu faces being stripped of Legion of Honour medal
In response, Tuesday’s essay says: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality.
“When Gerard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art (of cinema) that is being attacked,” it said. “France owes him so much. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art.’’
Paris lawmaker and feminist Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu said the signatories are experiencing a “denial of reality”. She said she would have preferred for them to support initiatives against sexual violence instead.
“They are refusing to see what this man did … because he is an artist,” she told broadcaster France-Info.
Emmanuelle Dancourt, whose #MeTooMedia group supports sexual misconduct victims in the media industry, said on BFM television that the essay’s message is particularly painful for victims of sexual abuse by powerful men.
French President Emmanuel Macron also drew ire when he said last week that Depardieu “makes France proud”.
The recent documentary includes a segment where Depardieu is heard making crude sexual comments about a young girl riding a horse.
Macron suggested that the segment could have been edited in a misleading way. France Televisions, which broadcast the documentary, later said that the segment in question was authenticated by a bailiff who viewed the raw footage.
Depardieu is no stranger to scandal, having made headlines by brawling, drink-driving and urinating in the aisle of a plane.
He has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and has a Russian passport.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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France

Dozens of French stars defend actor Gerard Depardieu despite sexual misconduct allegations

French actor Gerard Depardieu in 2020. File photo: El Gouna Film Festival via AFP

Actor Gerard Depardieu in 2015. File photo: AP

French actor Gerard Depardieu faces being stripped of Legion of Honour medal, France’s highest award

Actor Gerard Depardieu at the screening of the movie ‘Saint Amour’ at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany February 19, 2016. Photo: Reuters

French actor Gérard Depardieu (right) being awarded the Legion of Honour by then French president Jacques Chirac at the Elysée Palace in Paris on May 2, 1996. Photo: AFP

Actor Gerard Depardieu at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany in 2016. Photo: Reuters

French actors Gérard Depardieu (right) and Jean Marais (centre) after being awarded with the Legion of Honour by then French president Jacques Chirac (left) at the Elysée Palace in Paris on May 2, 1996. A disciplinary procedure will be initiated against Depardieu, announced the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, on Friday. Photo: AFP

Gerard Depardieu, as flawed as he is flamboyant, rose from poverty to personify an unabashed Frenchness, but the love affair soured

French actor Gerard Depardieu in his younger years. Photo: Getty Images

French actor Gerard Depardieu at a dinner in Moscow. He attracted controversy after accepting a Russian passport and becoming friendly with the country’s leader, Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty Images

Gerard Depardieu in 2005, testing some of the wine he produces with partner Bernard Magrez. Long regarded as a national treasure in France, his increasingly errant behaviour has changed opinions. This week police revealed he is the subject of a rape investigation. Photo: Getty Images

Gerard Depardieu (right), Patrick Dewaere, and Miou-Miou in a scene from the 1974 film Going Places. Photo: Getty Images

Gerard Depardieu and Andie McDowell in Green Card. Photo: Getty Images

Gerard Depardieu and his son Guillaume in Paris. As an adult, the latter was charged with pointing a pistol at his father, so bad was their relationship. “I basically screwed up with those I love,” Depardieu later admitted. Photo: Getty Images

Gerard and Elisabeth Depardieu, the actress to whom he was married for 36 years. Photo: Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets French Depardieu during a meeting in 2013 after the actor was granted Russian citizenship. Photo: AFP 

French star Gerard Depardieu, 72, charged with raping actress in her 20s

French actor Gerard Depardieu arrives for a screening at the 74th Venice Film Festival in September 2017. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 27, 2007 French journalist and TV host Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (PPDA) poses on the set of his TV show "Vol de nuit" in Paris. - A rape investigation was opened against former TV news star Patrick Poivre d'Arvor after writer Florence Porcel complained, the Nanterre public prosecutor's office told AFP on February 18, 2021, confirming a report by Le Parisien. (Photo by PIERRE VERDY / AFP)

Rape case dropped against French actor Gerard Depardieu

French actor Gerard Depardieu. File photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe

Open letter denounced the ‘lynching’ of disgraced French film legend Gerard Depardieu
Depardieu has been charged with rape and faces a litany of other sex assault claims


Open letter denounced the ‘lynching’ of French film star Gerard Depardieu, who is charged with rape and is facing a litany of other sexual assault claims.


Sexual harassment and assault

Fame and celebrity

Dozens of French stars defend actor Gerard Depardieu despite sexual misconduct allegations

Open letter denounced the ‘lynching’ of disgraced French film legend Gerard Depardieu Depardieu has been charged with rape and faces a litany of other sex assault claims

Open letter denounced the ‘lynching’ of disgraced French film legend Gerard Depardieu

Depardieu has been charged with rape and faces a litany of other sex assault claims