Depardieu salutes the “courage of the signatories” of the “very beautiful” platform which defends him

A cry from the heart for “the last sacred monster of cinema”. In a column, published by Le Figaro, fifty-six artists and cultural personalities defend Gérard Depardieu, indicted for rape since 2020 and at the heart of a scandal following a report by Complément d' investigation which shows him sexualizing a child. “When we attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, it is art that we attack,” affirm the signatories of the text.

A text with which Gérard Depardieu said he was “very happy”, as he explained to RTL on Tuesday. The actor said on the phone that he found the column “very well written”, by Yannis Ezziadi, an actor close to one of his daughters, as reported by RTL journalist Vincent Serrano. “I was presented with this letter, I found it beautiful and I therefore told its author that it could be published,” he added according to RTL, specifying that he He hadn't called anyone or asked for help from any artist. “Several refused,” he adds, however, saluting “the courage of the signatories.”

Also read: Indictment for rape, obscene remarks, boycott... The year when everything changed for Gérard Depardieu

The day after the publication, Jack Lang expressed his friendship and admiration for his talent. “I approve of this column,” the former Minister of Culture even explained to France Info, specifying that he could not have signed the column because it contains “nothing on women's rights and insults to respect for women”: “we must first of all not forget the fight that women are waging for their rights, against patriarchy, against male arbitrariness,” he says.

The publication of this column, however, aroused incomprehension and even anger among several activists in the feminist cause. “It’s a very educational forum,” judges the president of the Women’s Foundation, Anne-Cécile Mailfert, interviewed by AFP. What we see is how an entourage will organize itself and use arguments such as “he's a holy monster, he's a genius” to protect someone. “It will be very difficult for the victims to speak and file a complaint (...). But no one is above the law,” added the founder of Let’s Dare Feminism.

For Paris councilor Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu, this forum “defends the culture of rape” and has decided to “privilege the artist, and to disregard the words of each victim”. In an interview with France Info, she believes that these 56 signatories “are facing a denial of reality”. “They tell us: “We refuse to see what the man has done (...) because he is the artist”. And that’s particularly serious.” “This forum is intended to create a diversion.” Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu would have preferred “to find these personalities, these artists, these public voices in so many other fights, in so many other forums, in particular to defend victims of sexist and sexual violence, to fight against sexism in general” .

Emmanuelle Dancourt, president of Metoo Media, also expressed her disgust on BFMTV: “It saddens me, I am devastated because I have the impression that there is a misunderstanding: when I hear about a torrent of hatred which pours out on Gérard Depardieu, that’s not that at all.”

Among the signatories - 32 men and 24 women - we include actors, writers, singers, musicians, an academician... If certain personalities are not part of Gérard Depardieu's private circle, other names like that of the actress Carole Bouquet, his former partner, the actress Nathalie Baye and the director Michel Fau, are among his early supporters.

One name in the list caught the attention of Laurent Boyet, president of the Les Papillons association: actor Pierre Richard, ambassador of the association which fights against child abuse. On social networks, Laurent Boyet declared that the association was now separating itself from its services. “Of course, we knew about his past friendship with Gérard Depardieu, born from the films they shot together and from a certain conception of living well. But there are acts and comments that we cannot accept or excuse, even in the name of any friendship,” explained the president of the association.