Unfazed Maïwenn Ordered to Pay Up for Spitting in French Journo’s Face

The French actress and filmmaker Maïwenn Le Besco was fined $435 for spitting in the face of a well-known French journalist ahead of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, French media reported Tuesday. The fine stems from a viral incident in March, when Maïwenn was in Paris before her film Jeanne du Barry, co-starring Johnny Depp, opened the festival. Eyewitnesses at a restaurant said Maïwenn approached Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of the news website Mediapart, and spat in his face after pulling his head back by his hair. Plenel filed a police report, which forced Maïwenn into court on a charge of “voluntary violence without interruption of work.” In the aftermath of the incident, which reportedly stemmed from Maïwenn’s anger at how the website used an interview she did with it, Maïwenn admitted to the act. French reports said the director refused to apologize in court last week, testifying on the stand, “I don’t apologize and I don’t regret [it].”

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