On December 7, French actress Emmanuelle Debever died at the age of 60 after jumping off a bridge into the Seine River in Paris. The interpreter was the first of many to denounce Gérard Depardieu for sexual assault.
More than a dozen actresses and other film industry workers have accused Depardieu of sexual assault over the years, most of them in the work environment. Many of these complaints have expired, and except for charging the actor three years ago for allegedly raping actress Charlotte Arnauld, no measures have been taken against him.
However, the appearance of unpublished material could change things. A video from 2018 in which the actor can be seen uttering misogynistic and obscene comments has just definitively ruined the already battered image of the interpreter of Cyrano de Bergerac.
"Women love to ride horses. Their clitorises rub against the saddle," the actor, who is visiting a riding center, is heard saying. "They enjoy it a lot. They are sluts," he adds. As if that were not enough, he ends up sexualizing a girl of approximately ten years old who practices at said center.
The images, which are part of an upcoming documentary by writer Yann Moix broadcast on Complément d’Enquête, on the France 2 network on the occasion of Debever's death; have caused a wave of indignation. In addition to the actor's sexist statements, the report also offered the testimony of no less than four women who have denounced the French actor of sexual assault.
This behavior, together with his tax exile, having obtained Russian citizenship for his friendship with President Vladimir Putin or his friendship with the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadirov; They have ended up dynamiting his public image and the actor has already begun to suffer the first consequences in his career.
Last April, the actor was removed from the promotional campaign for his latest film, The Taste of Simple Things. Furthermore, his representative was already in charge of announcing that he "did not accept any project" after announcing that he was withdrawing from the animated film La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises.
Furthermore, after the broadcast of the controversial France 2 report, the Prime Minister of Quebec this week withdrew his medal of honour. As if that were not enough, France has revealed that it is considering withdrawing the Legion of Honor medal, France's highest decoration.
It was the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who told the France 5 television network that she had asked the Grande Chancellerie commission - in charge of the Legion of Honor - to initiate a disciplinary procedure to examine whether the medal should be suspended. or withdraw.
Malak said she was "outraged" by Depardieu's comments in the report, which she described as "scandalous" and "embarrassing France."
