“We must not celebrate him”: films with Depardieu are no longer welcome on France Télévisions

He appeared again in October 2022, in the France 2 mini-series, Diane de Poitiers. His friend Josée Dayan, who defends him tooth and nail, directed him in the role of Nostradamus. His interpreter probably did not predict the storm that is rising and could seriously derail his career. Already excluded from the promotion of the film Umami in April, Gérard Depardieu is no longer welcome on the public service, a heavyweight in French cinema production. Manuel Alduy, director of cinema and international development at France Télévisions, confirmed this in the France 2 investigative magazine “Complément d’investigation”: “We must not celebrate Gérard Depardieu. It’s just not possible.”

Manuel Alduy clarified the group's position in the program broadcast Thursday, December 7, which we were able to watch in preview: “The collective indictment by around fifteen women, at the beginning of 2023, had the immediate consequence for us of review our distribution plans.” He is referring here to the Mediapart survey from April 2023 relaying testimonies of attacks or inappropriate behavior. Which were added to a complaint for rape filed by Charlotte Arnould in 2018. “We put on hold any projects that might be submitted to us with Gérard Depardieu,” he adds. Consequences which therefore relate as much to the broadcasting of films as to the production of feature films in which the actor would participate.

This is not the first time that Manuel Alduy has expressed the position of France Télévisions with regard to the Depardieu “case”, which has been the subject of a new complaint for sexual assault since September. But this seems to have hardened on the production side. Last April, after the publication of the Mediapart investigation, he responded to Le Parisien: “We will continue to broadcast films with Gérard Depardieu because censorship is too dangerous and a film is a collective work.” Before explaining: “We will be able to participate in a film with Depardieu but by ensuring with the producer that the conditions are met so that everything goes well. »

Also read Who is Hélène Darras, the actress who filed a complaint against Gérard Depardieu?

If Gérard Depardieu participated in the promotions of his films released in 2022, Maigret and Les Volets vertes, the publication of the Mediapart investigation impacted the release of Umami by Slony Sow, in April 2023, in which he played a chef on the way back. The producers therefore preferred to exclude it from promotion. In a press release, they said they provided their “support to all victims of sexual violence or harassment”. Will the actor find French channels in the future to produce and then broadcast the films or documentaries, some of which have already been shot, in which he appears?