Is Depardieu a sexual predator? The decision will rest with the French judiciary after the two complaints against him have been fully examined.
Is Depardieu a rude, vulgar creature, an inappropriate and disgusting sex freak? There is no need for a commission of inquiry to answer “yes.”
All we have to do is look at the pictures that have been playing on a loop for several days of him calling women “fat sluts” and talking about the “little pussies” and “clitorises” of every woman he meets.
Depardieu was a sacred monster of cinema. He is becoming more and more of a monster. And less and less holy.
It's Gérard, he's like that!
The France 2 program Complément d'investigation broadcast a devastating report on Depardieu on Thursday entitled “The Fall of the Ogre.” Why an ogre? Because in these pictures, taken during a trip to North Korea in 2018, Gérard Depardieu lets out bestial growls after speaking vulgarly about women. As if he was about to devour her raw.
“You'll have a nice shower, you'll think about me… her little pussy.”
When he weighs himself on a scale, he states his weight: “124, 124 darling. Wait, and now I'm not erect! When erect there are 126!”
During a visit to a stud farm (an establishment where stallions and mares are bred), he said: “Women like to ride. Her clitoris rubs against the saddle pommel. They have a lot of fun, they're big sluts, that's all.
On a 10-year-old girl who goes horseback riding: “If she ever gallops, she'll enjoy it… That's good, my girl, keep going.”
Are we talking about wood? He replies, “I have a jet in my pants.”
These images and words went around the world. But what amazes me is that in the Complètement d'investigation report, several people testify that in the world of cinema, for a long time, every time Depardieu behaves like an inappropriate harasser, they shrug their shoulders and say: “It is Gérard, he’s like that, Gérard…”
As if it were a little habit like any other, groping the make-up artists, the assistants or sticking your hand down the pants of young actresses. But why did the cinema industry protect him so much and for so long?
Yesterday I heard Raphaëlle Bacqué, a senior reporter at Le Monde, say that in the '80s we broadcast a report on the filming of “Under the Sign of Satan” on the 8 p.m. news. “We see him waving his hands around his buttocks, slapping women's breasts… and everyone said he was incredibly nice back then.”
Who will be next?
We have heard these sentences too many times… In the field of Olympic sports we have heard: “It's Marcel, he's like that Marcel.” In the field of cinema we've heard: “It's Harvey, he's like that Harvey.” In the TV section we had, “It’s Eric. That's how he is, Eric.” You may have heard these sentences about a boss or a colleague in your workplace. How many environments should there be a “survey completion”? How many monsters in our societies are on the verge of collapse?