Emmanuel Macron Defends Gérard Depardieu As Third Woman Makes Official Sexual Assault Complaint Against Actor
21.12.2023 - 17:34
/ deadline.com
French President Emmanuel Macron has come out in support of Gérard Depardieu whose star has fallen in France in recent days following the airing of a documentary investigating multiple allegations of sexual assault against the actor.
“One thing you’ll never see me get involved in is a witch hunt. I hate that,” Macron said in an interview with evening talk show C à Vous on Wednesday evening.
Questioned whether he thought the actor had brought shame on France, Macron replied that he was a “great admirer of Depardieu” and that he “had made France proud.”
Depardieu’s treatment of women on and off the set has been under public scrutiny following the airing of France 2 investigative show Complément d’Enquête on December 7.
Prior to its broadcast, Depardieu already faced one charge of rape in the courts filed by actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018.
The France 2 documentary revealed that a second actress, Hélène Darras, also lodged a sexual misconduct complaint against him this September. An official investigation into the case has yet to be confirmed.
The documentary also featured material capturing Depardieu talking in a sexually inappropriate way to a young female interpreter assigned to him during a visit to North Korea in 2018.
The bombshell report has prompted a public backlash while, for the first time, film industry figures, such as actresses Anouk Grinberg and Brit Van Hoof, have started speaking out about the culture of omertà around Depardieu’s behaviour.
French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak announced last Friday that she had set in place a procedure to decide whether Depardieu should be sanctioned or even stripped of the Legion Of Honor he received from late French President Jacque Chirac in 1996.
“In this