French President Macron Condemns Stripping of Depardieu’s Legion of Honor Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

“You will never see me participating in the persecution,” Macron told France 5 television when asked about the possible stripping of Depardieu’s Legion of Honor.

“I hate this kind of thing,” Macron added.

France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, which Depardieu received in 1996, “is not an instrument of virtue,” Macron said.

French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said last week that the actor’s behavior had disgraced France and noted that he could be stripped of the Legion of Honor.

Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films, was accused of rape in 2020. More than 10 women have accused him of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

This month, a TV show in which Depardieu made sexist comments brought the allegations back into the spotlight and fueled a debate about sexism in French cinema.

“France 2” TV channel showed that the actor repeatedly made explicit sexual remarks in the presence of an interpreter during a trip to North Korea in 2018 and attributed a sexual context to a little girl riding a horse.

Depardieu denied all the charges against him in October. Since the release of this television footage, Depardieu’s family has denounced an “unprecedented conspiracy” against him.

Last weekend, a Belgian municipality stripped Depardieu of the title of honorary citizen. A few days earlier, the province of Quebec in Canada revoked its highest honor awarded to Depardieu because of his “scandalous” remarks about women.

Macron stripped Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of the Legion of Honor in 2017 after Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and rape.

2023-12-21 05:37:00


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