NEW ACCUSES: The accusations of sexual harassment against one of France’s most high-profile actors have again come into the spotlight in connection with a new French TV documentary. Here, Gérard Depardieu, who denies the charges, is photographed during the filming of the film “Novecento – Atto Primo” in 2017. Photo: TIZIANA FABI / AFP / NTB
A famous museum is removing a wax figure of Gérard Depardieu (74) after a TV documentary that brings new accusations of sexual harassment against the actor.
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A new TV documentary has shed new light on previous accusations against the French actor and breathed new life into the debate about sexual harassment in French film, writes BBC.
At the same time, the French culture minister believes that the high-profile actor brings shame to the country.
In 2020, Gérard Depardieu was suspected and investigated for rape and sexual harassment. The rape charges, which were dropped due to a lack of evidence, only became known the following year.
According to the woman, a 24-year-old writer and actress, Depardieu assaulted and raped her twice in August 2018. This allegedly happened at his home in Paris, where she was auditioning for a film role.
In the documentary, it now emerges that it was actress Charlotte Arnould who reported him and later sued him for the alleged rapes.
− Media court
Depardieu himself has denied all the accusations.
On Sunday, the family of Depardieu stated that they experience the accusations as a conspiracy against the actor, who they believe is subject to a collective rage.
In October, he himself wrote an open letter to the newspaper Le Figaro. where he denied all charges.
“Throughout my life I have been provocative, excessive and at times rough,” he wrote. “I’ve often done things that others wouldn’t dare, tested boundaries, shaken up accepted truths … but I’m not a rapist or an abuser.”
He claims to have never abused a woman and criticized the media for running a public lynching and trial.
2015: Gérard Depardieu poses in Cannes in connection with the film Valley of Love. Photo: Thibault Camus / AP / NTB
Despite the fact that Depardieu has rejected the accusations, the popular Grevin wax museum in Paris has now chosen to remove the wax figure of the high-profile actor after “negative reactions from the public”.
Removed honorary appointment
On Saturday, a Belgian municipality also removed Depardieu’s honorary appointment and last week French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said the actor’s behavior brought shame on France. She also asked that he be stripped of the country’s highest honor, the Légion d’honneur.
The documentary on France 2, made by the investigative program Complément d’Enquête, is said to have shown video footage of Depardieu making sexist comments. Among other things, he is said to have said to his interpreter during a trip to North Korea in 2018: “I weigh 124 kilos without an erection, with an erection I weigh 126 kilos”.
OBELIX: Depardieu has starred in over 200 films in half a century, including “Jean de Florette” and “Cyrano de Bergerac”, the Obelix films and “Life of Pi”. Photo: Norwegian Film Distribution
In the documentary, a new actor also came forward with accusations against him, with allegations of sexual abuse during the filming of “Disco” in 2007, writes Guardian.
In the wake of the documentary, French police have also opened an investigation into the death of another actor who allegedly made accusations of sexual abuse via Facebook while filming the film “Danton” in 1982.
Actress Emmanuelle Debever (60) was found in the Seine in Paris on 7 December this year, the same day that the much-advised documentary was broadcast on French TV.
The police do not suspect that anything criminal has happened, but will investigate it as a possible suicide, report BBC.
Published:
Published: 19.12.23 at 02:40
2023-12-19 01:40:42
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