French President Emmanuel Macron, who is going through a delicate political moment after passing the new immigration law, has given another reason to anger many of his compatriots. His public defense of actor Gérard Depardieu, accused of multiple sexual assaults, has outraged feminists and also former socialist president François Hollande, the man who appointed Macron as economy minister and launched him into high politics.
The reflections on Depardieu occurred during the live broadcast of a talk show on the France 5 channel on Wednesday night. Most of the program was dedicated to the immigration issue, but the head of state addressed questions on other topics and, as always, did not hold his tongue.
Macron defended the presumption of innocence of Depardieu, of whom he confessed to be a great admirer for his artistic gifts. He said that he "has made France, our great actors, our great characters, known throughout the world." "He is a source of pride for France," he added.
The president seemed almost irritated with the context of the question and emphasized that he "detests" "man-hunting" attitudes. Macron flatly rejected the proposal of the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who opened the procedure to withdraw Depardieu, 74, from the Legion of Honor. According to the president, her mission is not to "make morals" by withdrawing the high national distinction, among other things because, depending on what criteria were used, it would perhaps have to be withdrawn from many other artists.
"No, we are not proud of Gérard Depardieu," Hollande replied from the microphones of France Inter. The former president reproached his former minister for talking about the actor's talent and his presumption of innocence. "I will talk to you about the fourteen assaulted women, about humiliated women, about women dismayed by the images they have seen, about all the women who see through Gérard Depardieu what violence, domination and contempt can be," he added. Hollande.
There were other very angry reactions from left-wing parliamentarians, such as the socialist senator Laurence Rossignol or the environmentalist deputy Sandrine Rousseau. The feminist activist Cécile Mailfert accused Macron of somehow indirectly justifying rape culture, and considered it very serious that it is the President of the Republic himself, whose word has repercussions, who uses the arguments that he used.
The Depardieu case became even more serious after some very rude and sexist phrases came to light in a documentary filmed in North Korea. There she stated that women love riding horses because it excites their genitals. Some of the comments were directed at a 12-year-old girl.
