PRES. MACRON DEFENDS GERARD DEPARDIEU AMID CONTROVERSY

USPA NEWS - The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, defended actor Gerard Depardieu who was the subject of a major controversy over his inappropriate behavior in film shooting scenes, during a trip to North Korea in 2018.
During his television interview on December 20 at the Elysee for the France TV channel, the head of state defended actor Gerard Depardieu. President Macron had declared that he hated "manhunts", that he was "a great admirer of Gérard Depardieu (...), a huge actor" who "makes France proud", and he insisted on the importance of the presumption of innocence. Gérard Depardieu was indicted for rape in 2020, following a complaint from Charlotte Arnould. Recently, a second complaint for sexual assault was filed by actress Hélène Darras, for apparently prescribed facts dating back to 2007 on a set. It was followed by a third, for rape, by Ruth Baza, a Spanish journalist denouncing facts dating back to 1995. Gerard Depardieu, when he refuted all of these accusations.

Tuesday, December 26, the Journal Le Figaro, published an article signed by around fifty celebrities from the world of show bizz entitled "Don't erase Gérard Depardieu". The Grevin museum even chose to remove the statue of Gérard Depardieu “in the face of negative reactions from visitors”.
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This forum of support for the actor indicted for rape, and including the France TV report, "Complément d'investigation" during which, Gerard Depardieu, uttered very crude and inappropriate words concerning a young minor girl. Since the broadcast of this report, many women's defense associations, judging these remarks to be sexist, have expressed themselves, as well as social networks and certain audiovisual media, saying they are shocked. Among these associations, MeeTooMedia is an association fighting against sexual and gender-based violence in the media, created in November 2021 when women filed a complaint against the former TF1 prime time. presenter Patrick Poivre-d'Arvor or testified of sexual assault. For several weeks, the controversy has grown and spread to the defense of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron himself.

“GERARD DEPARDIEU IS INCAPABLE OF HARMING A WOMAN” EXPLAINS CAROLE BOUQUET HIS EX WIFE
Since then, very few colleagues have spoken out to defend this people of French cinema, and whose popular lynching is only increasing, except his ex-wife, Carole Bouquet, who explains having lived with him for 10 years and that he is incapable of rape anyone, and while recognizing that Gerard Depardieu is “yes, he is rude and has trashy language, but that does not make him a rapist” explains Carole Bouquet. Indeed, the day after President Macron's television intervention, actress Carole Bouquet, speaking on the TMC TV channel, in the show "Quotidien" promoting her performance in an upcoming film, declared being outraged by " a real problem with what's happening with Gérard at the moment... I'm afraid for him." She continues

"This media trial continues, it's been going on for months and it's killing a man. I can't stand it. I have no possible tenderness for someone who turns out to be a monster, but this is not the case with Gerard,” she continues, recalling having lived “ten years of sexuality” with him. According to the one who won the César for best actress in 1990, "Gérard is capable of being rude, of having sometimes borderline humor, but he is incapable of hurting a woman". “Let’s stop the relish,” she urges again. Source TF1 TV

Finally, it was the speech of the Head of State himself who triggered this column signed by around fifty celebrities from the world of cinema and buzz shows to say "We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching which falls on him"

"Gerard Depardieu is probably the greatest of actors. The last sacred monster of cinema. We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that falls on him, in the face of the torrent of hatred that pours out on his person, without nuance, in the most complete amalgamation and in defiance of a presumption of innocence from which he would have benefited, like everyone else, if he were not the giant of cinema that he is", they write in this text.
“When we attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, it is art that we attack. Through his genius as an actor, Gérard Depardieu contributes to the artistic influence of our country. (...) Whatever it happens, no one will ever be able to erase the indelible trace of his work which our era is forever marked. The rest, everything else, concerns justice; only justice. Exclusively", they add. (Source France Bleu)

Gerard Depardieu, for his part, reacted to this platform signed by fifty-five celebrities, and responded to this platform, on RTL radio “I think it is very courageous on the part of the signatories”. “I was presented with this letter… I thought it was beautiful and so I told its author that he could publish it,” he explains.

LIST OF 55 CELEBRITIES WHO SUPPORT GERARD DEPARDIEU
1. Carla Bruni, singer and Ex President Sarkozy’s wife
2. Gerard Darmon, actor
3. Nathalie Baye, actress and ex wife of Gerard Depardieu
4. Benoît Poelvoorde, actor
5. Carole Bouquet, actress and ex wife of Gerard Depardieu
6. Charlotte Rampling, actress
7. Nadine Trintignant, actress
8. Jacques Weber, actor, Film Director
9. Pierre Richard, actor
10. Roberto Alagna, singer
11. Yvan Attal, Actor
12. Arielle Dombasle, Singer, Actress
13. Emmanuelle Seigner, Actress
14. Dominique Besnehard, Film agent
15. Victoria Abril, Actress
16. Boualem Sansal, Actor
17. Jacques Dutronc, Singer, Actor
18. Josée Dayan, Film Director
19. Fanny Ardant, actress
20. Yann Moix, Novelist