Thread: Green Card-Red Card

Well-known French actor is accused of sexual assault. But why do both women and the president support him?


Actor Gérard Depardieu has found himself in a media storm that seems to divide France.




Carole Bouquet (left) and Carla Bruni (right) are among the women who, in a letter of support, have called the criticism of Gérard Depardieu (center) a lynching. (Photo: DR Collage: © Nathalie Nystad, Ritzau Scanpix)

Silas Bay Nielsen

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One of France's greatest actors, Gérard Depardieu, has once again made the front pages of several French media.

Although he is accused of rape, sexual assault and making perverse statements about women, French President Emmanuel Macron believes the hunt is too fierce and that Depardieu is someone who makes France proud.

Most recently, more than 50 celebrities from the French cultural elite issued a statement of support for Gérard Depardieu. One of them is singer and former First Lady Carla Bruni, as well as actress Charlotte Rampling.

Here they write that they will no longer remain silent in the face of lynching and the wave of hatred without nuance.







Gérard Depardieu (right) has starred in countless films. Among other things, the film '1900' from 1976, in which he starred alongside Robert De Niro (left) and Stefania Casini (center). (Photo: © P.E.A / Album, RITZAU/SCANPIX)

Documentary sparked further debate


The renewed debate on the already controversial Gérard Depardieu began in early December.

Here, the French TV channel France 2 showed a documentary in which a film crew followed the French actor on a trip to North Korea in 2018.

One of the recordings, which has caused a lot of debate, takes place at a horse stud farm.

While some women ride their horses on a riding track, Depardieu finds that women love to ride because their clitoris glides across the saddle. Then he calls them dirty.

Subsequently, a Korean girl is filmed at the riding arena. At the same time, Depardieu says:

- If the horse gallops, she will have an orgasm. That's good, my little girl. Continue.

According to the Depardieu family, the footage has been misunderstood and is being described as an attempt to make the actor appear as a pedophile. In an opinion piece, they write, among other things, that the comment was not about the girl and that Depardieu usually calls anyone a little girl.

The case comes after 13 women in the film industry accused him of sexual assault between 2004 and 2022 this spring. In addition, he is accused of rape that allegedly took place in 2018 against actress Charlotte Arnould.

In an open letter in Le Figaro, he denies rape and any offences.







Depardieu has been granted Russian citizenship and is good friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he later voiced support for Ukraine. (Photo: © MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV, Ritzau Scanpix)

Greater freedom for the country's elite


That Gérard Depardieu still receives support from the president and several at the top of the cultural elite comes as no surprise to Jørn Boisen, associate professor of French at the University of Copenhagen.

He says that the political and cultural elite are not so harshly judged when they have stepped aside in sex cases.

"The French didn't really care about their personal morals and who they slept with. A distinction is made between private and public activities in a completely different way than, for example, the United States, he says.

He explains that the French – both men and women – traditionally shrug their shoulders more when it comes to sex and eroticism, as long as the person has not been convicted in a more serious case such as rape.







Catherine Deneuve (centre) has previously said that #MeToo had gone too far. Here she is seen with Edouard Baer (left) and Gérard Depardieu in connection with the promotion of an Asterix and Obelix film. (Photo: © Willi Schneider/Shutterstock, RITZAU/SCANPIX)
In addition, some French people are more critical of the #MeToo wave, says the associate professor.

This is because the phenomenon began in the United States and is therefore seen more as an Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, which could be a loss for France if the stricter American sex morality is given free rein in France.

Movement towards less acceptance


But there is growing opposition to this position, and that is why France is currently debating so fiercely whether Emmanuel Macron said the right or wrong thing, Boisen said.

That resistance came back in 2020 and 2021, where more people chose to share their stories.

This happened with the autobiographical book 'The Consent', in which Venessa Springora described her relationship with an elderly French writer, and subsequently with Camille Kouchner's book 'La Familia Grande', in which a well-known academic and TV personality was accused of assaulting her twin brother.

Subsequently, the hashtag came #MeTooInceste, where several in the French cultural elite were accused of incest.







Isabelle Huppert participated with Gérard Depardieu at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. The family says Depardieu's actions are just for fun. (Photo: © SEBASTIEN NOGIER, Scanpix Denmark)
Emmanual Macron's statements and the letter of support have also provoked reactions. Former socialist president François Hollande has said France is not proud of Gérard Depardieu.

In addition, actress Sophie Marceau, who has refused to star alongside Depardieu since 1985, has reiterated that she is against his "inappropriate behavior" following the letter of support from 56 cultural figures.

"Everyone laughed at him. Everyone cared about him because of it. Everyone applauded him because he was who he was. And everyone thought it was normal," she said, according to BFMTV.

Several women's organisations have also criticised the declaration of support, calling it a slap in the face for those who are victims of violence.

“Women love to ride horses. Their clitorises rub against the saddle… They love it… They’re all sluts,” Depardieu is heard saying during a visit to an equestrian center. He then talks in explicitly sexual terms about a 10-year-old-girl on horseback.

Uhuh.

But why do both women and the president support him?

Because they're fucking arseholes.


Gerard Depardieu self-destructs in damning video | Culture | EL PAIS English