Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday evening that he “does not regret” defending the presumption of innocence of French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu, accused of rape and the subject of several complaints, while at the same time regretting that he did not “say enough how important are the words of women.” are “victims of violence”.
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“I do not regret having defended the presumption of innocence against a public figure, in this case an artist, as I did against political leaders,” declared the head of state, who defended Gérard Depardieu at the end of December, during a press conference, praised a “great actor” who “makes France proud” and denounced “a manhunt.”
But Emmanuel Macron admitted that he “feels at this moment a regret that he has not said enough about how important the words of women who are victims of this violence are and how important this fight is for me.” .
Gérard Depardieu, 75, is the target of three complaints of sexual assault or rape – allegations he denies. He has also been accused of rape since 2020 after an actress in her 20s, Charlotte Arnould, filed a complaint.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
With these statements in December, the head of state responded to a report in which the actor made numerous misogynistic and offensive remarks while addressing women, which shocked part of the population.
Feminist associations described the President of the Republic's statements as “spitting” in the face of victims of sexual violence and denounced “blame reversal.”
“Since the first day (of the five-year term, editor's note) and even before, the issue of violence against women has been a priority and we will continue to fight against this social phenomenon,” Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
“I am happy that freedom of expression is being released and I hope that it can be released as widely as possible,” he added. “But I think that our task is to allow its framework, that justice can do its work, that we protect the women at risk, but that, again, we do not do this by forgetting the constitutional principles that belong to us, including of presumption.” of innocence.”
An actor with more than 200 films in cinema and television, with instinctive acting and work bulimia, Gérard Depardieu has interpreted the great heroes of national literature, from Cyrano de Bergerac to Jean Valjean from “The Miserables”, including Obelix.