Depardieu was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2020 following allegations from actress Charlotte Arnould and accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. Depardieu denied any wrongdoing and called the text “great.”
It was published on Tuesday in the conservative-leaning newspaper Le Figaro and signed by figures including former first lady and singer Carla Bruni, Depardieu's former partner Carole Bouquet and actors Pierre Richard, Charlotte Rampling and Victoria April. Two dozen of the 56 signatories were women. Many come from the Depardieu generation, the latter being 74 years old.
A recent documentary portrays 16 women's sexual misconduct allegations against Depardieu and shows the actor making lewd comments and gestures during a trip to North Korea in 2018. The documentary “France 2” sparked calls to stop broadcasting Depardieu’s films, including: Classics of modern French cinema.
“France owes him so much”
In response, the text published on Tuesday says: “We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that falls on him, in the face of the flood of hatred that pours out on his person, without nuance, in most cases complete Amalgamous and at the same time disregarding a presumption of innocence from which he, like everyone else, would have benefited if he had not been the cinema giant that he is.”
“When we attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, it is art that we are attacking,” the text reads.
“Through his genius as an actor, Gérard Depardieu contributes to the artistic influence of our country. He contributes to art history at the highest level. It is part of this story and continues to enrich it. For this France owes him so much.” The text goes on to suggest that to deprive us of this actor would mean a tragedy, a defeat and even “the death of art”.
Paris MP and feminist Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu said the signatories had experienced a “denial of reality”. She would have preferred if they had supported initiatives against sexual violence instead.
“They refuse to see what this man has done… because he is an artist,” she told France-Info broadcaster.
Emmanuelle Dancourt, whose #MeTooMedia group supports victims of sexual misconduct in the media industry, said on BFM television that the text's message was particularly painful for victims of sexual abuse by powerful men.
French President Emmanuel Macron also sparked anger when he said last week that Depardieu was “making France proud.”
The recent documentary includes a segment in which Depardieu is heard making crude sexual comments about a young girl on a horse. Mr Macron said the section could have been edited in a misleading way. France Télévisions, which broadcast the documentary, later argued that the segment in question had been authenticated by a bailiff who viewed the raw footage.