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Some 600 French art and entertainment world figures have signed a “counter-petition” decrying moves to defend iconic actor Gérard Depardieu in the face of multiple accusations of sexual assault and one of rape.
The petition described a recent open letter in support of Depardieu, signed by 55 cinema world celebrities, and President Emmanuel Macron’s public defense of the actor on a talkshow before Christmas as a slap in the face for all victims of sexual violence.
“It is the sinister and perfect illustration of the world which refuses to let things change,” read the letter posted on the site of investigative news website Mediapart on Friday.
“It is the reversal of roles where the executioner (the ‘monster’. the man, not at all sacred, but just obscene) places himself as a victim, with the help of his friends. As always in cases of gender-based and sexual violence against women, the ‘presumption of innocence’ for the aggressor sounds like a ‘presumption of lying’ for the women who testify against him,” it continued.
The signatories included popular rappers, DJs and singers alongside artists and photographers as well as figures from the cinema world such as actors Judith Chemla, Felix Maritaud, Waly Dia and Louise Chevillotte and director-screenwriter Caroline Deruas.
Depardieu’s star has fallen in France in recent weeks after the broadcast of a bombshell edition of investigative show Complément d’Enquête, which probed historic accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior by the actor.
The program follows in the wake an official complaint of two acts of rape against Depardieu dating back to 2018 by actress Charlotte Arnould, which is currently making its way through the courts, as well as multiple accusations of sexual assault against the star.
Mediapart previously detailed 13 accusations of sexual misconduct against Depardieu in a special report published last April.
The Complément d’Enquête report revealed that a second woman, French actress Hélène Darras, had also lodged a complaint against Depardieu in September, related to events on the set of the 2007 dance comedy Disco.
A third woman, Spanish journalist Ruth Baza, is reported to have made an official complaint against the actor in Spain in relation to an incident that took place during an interview in Paris in 1995 when she was 23 years old, in the wake of the show’s broadcast.
The new counter-petition comes less than a week after the open letter in support of Depardieu, decrying the public “lynching” and cancelling of “a sacred ‘monster of cinema”, which was posted on the website of Le Figaro newspaper on December 25.
The signatories included former first lady, top model and musician Carla Bruni as well as popular actors Charlotte Rampling, Carole Bouquet, Nathalie Baye and Pierre Richard.
A handful of the signatories have since sought to distance themselves from parts of that initiative, in the light of the revelation that the journalist who instigated the open-letter, Yannis Ezziad, has connections to far-right politician Eric Zemmour.
Bouquet, who was in a relationship with Depardieu from 1997 to 2005, posted on her Instagram account on Friday that she had signed the petition “for Gérard Depardieu” but did support the “ideas and values” of the journalist behind the open letter.
“Giving him visibility via the intermediary of Gérard has made me, as you can image, deeply uncomfortable,” she wrote.
Filmmaker and writer Nadine Trintignant outright withdrew her support of the letter due to the fact it was written by Ezziad.
“I didn’t know who was behind the petition when I signed it,” she said in a statement. “I ask all of those who were shocked not to hold this grave error against me.”
In the meantime, actor Yvan Attal gave an interview to the BFMTV news channel, in which he explained that he had signed the original open letter in reaction to the media backlash rather than any personal support of Depardieu.
“I feel uncomfortable, because I signed a petition that I’m not totally in agreement with, but I signed it for reasons that were stronger than what disturbed,” said Attal.
“There are too many things that aren’t right… He has the right not to be publicly lynched month upon month upon month. It’s in the papers every day, and for the very reason that there is a case against him, we should let justice do the talking,” he said.
Veteran actor Gérard Darmon echoed Attal in a separate interview, saying his signing of the original letter has been “a completely civic act” since he did not personally know Depardieu.
“I don’t know him, he’s not a friend, I shot one scene with him a long time ago in Asterix… what I can’t stand is this trial by media,” he said.
The actor added, “If the two rapes ever turn out to be true, I will be the first to step up and say: ‘You’re a pig, I didn’t think you were capable of that’.”
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