French President Defends Gerard Depardieu Amid Sexual Assault Claims: He ‘Makes France Proud’
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French President Emmanuel Macron said the actor Gérard Depardieu — who’s faced an array of sexual assault allegations over the past few years — “makes France proud.”
According to the The New York Times, Macron appeared to defend Depardieu during a recent interview on French TV. The president said he was a “big admirer” of the “great actor,” and reiterated that anyone accused of something was innocent until proven otherwise: “You will never see me participate in a manhunt,” Macron said.
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Macron’s comments came after numerous women came forward with accusations against the actor in a new documentary, Gerard Depardieu: La chute de l’ogre, which aired in France earlier this month. Among those women was the French actress, Hélène Darras, who filed a new police complaint claiming Depardieu groped her in 2007.
Depardieu has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault in the past, which he has denied. But the documentary — which also features footage of Depardieu making sexist remarks during a trip to North Korea in 2018 — led to a new wave of scrutiny and backlash: His likeness was removed from a Paris wax museum, and France’s culture minister said there would disciplinary proceedings to potentially strip Depardieu of his Legion of Honor.
Macron, in his interview, appeared dismayed by this in particular. “Am I going to start stripping the Legion of Honor from artists or officials when they say things that shock me?” He said. “The answer is no… You can accuse someone — maybe there are victims, and I respect them, and I want them to be able to defend their rights. But there is also a presumption of innocence.”
Macron’s comments unsurprisingly garnered sharp criticism from feminist organizations and activists in France. “Manhunts remain prohibited. The hunt for women, on the other hand, remains open,” the group Osez Le Féminisme wrote on Twitter. In a TV interview, Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Women’s Foundation, called Macron’s remarks “very serious,” adding: “He is judging women who filed a complaint, women who spoke out. … He’s taking sides” (via The Associated Press).
Even France’s former president, Francois Hollande, rebuffed Macron, saying: “No, we are not proud.”
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