Emmanuel Macron speaks once again about Gérard Depardieu, but this time to clearly distance himself from the actor. In an interview in She this Wednesday, the president assured that there was “no complacency” towards the actor, claiming to have “never defended an aggressor in the face of victims”.
Gérard Depardieu will be tried next October in Paris for sexual assault on two women during filming in 2021. He has also been indicted since 2020 for rape and sexual assault on a young actress, Charlotte Arnould. Several other complaints have been filed against the 75-year-old actor, who denies the facts with which he is accused.
Macron denounced “a manhunt” at the end of 2023
At the end of December, before the actor was summoned to court, Emmanuel Macron took his defense, hailing a “huge actor” who “makes France proud”, and denouncing “a manhunt”.
“There is no complacency on my part,” the head of state assured this Wednesday. “Just a desire to respect our principles, such as the presumption of innocence. These same principles which will allow justice to rule next October and that is a good thing.”
Emmanuel Macron also indicates that he has “deep respect, goodwill and great confidence for and in the words of women” and says he is “uncompromising on the issue of rape, domination, this culture of brutality”. “My priority has always been the protection of victims, and this is also the case for the Depardieu affair,” he adds.
The definition of rape should evolve in France
Hailing “the courage” of actresses Judith Godrèche, Juliette Binoche and Isild le Besco, who denounced sexual violence in the cinema industry, Emmanuel Macron underlines that “the highlighting of the truth is done through free speech, through work of journalists, by the work of investigators. Justice then, alone, establishes guilt.”
Emmanuel Macron also insists on his intention to change the definition of rape in France by integrating the notion of consent. He thus recalls that parliamentarians are “working on the subject with the Minister of Justice so that a proposed text can see the light of day by the end of the year”. The #MeToo movement “reassured me, made me doubt, revealed things to me,” he admits.