Nearly 60 actors and public figures, including British actress Charlotte Rampling and former French first lady Carla Bruni, have signed an open letter claiming that French actor Gerard Depardieu is the victim of a “torrent of hatred.”
Depardieu, who was previously charged with rape in 2021, is currently facing a new sexual assault allegation after a French actress, Hélène Darras, filed a police complaint claiming he groped her in 2007. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron defended the actor in an interview, saying he “makes France proud.”
The letter, published in French newspaper Le Figaro on Christmas Day, says that “when Gérard Depardieu is attacked in this way, it is art that is being attacked.”
It continues, “Gérard Depardieu is probably the greatest of all actors. The last sacred monster of cinema. We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that is being heaped on him, in the face of the torrent of hatred that is being poured out on his person, without nuance, in the most complete amalgam and with contempt for a presumption of innocence that he would have enjoyed, like everyone else, if he were not the giant of the cinema that he is.”
Other signees include Bertrand Blier, Nathalie Baye, Carole Bouquet, Jacques Weber, Pierre Richard, Gérard Darmon, and Jacques Dutronc. Depardieu responded to the letter by calling it “courageous” and “beautiful.”
The letter arrives after numerous women came forward with accusations against the actor in a new documentary, Gerard Depardieu: La chute de l’ogre, which aired in France earlier this month. Among those women was Darras, who alleges that Depardieu sexually assaulted her when they were working on the 2007 film Disco. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed to Variety that it received the new sexual assault complaint and was investigating the allegations.
Depardieu has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault in the past, which he has denied. But the documentary — which also features footage of Depardieu making sexist remarks during a trip to North Korea in 2018 — led to a new wave of scrutiny and backlash: His likeness was removed from a Paris wax museum, and France’s culture minister said there would disciplinary proceedings to potentially strip Depardieu of his Legion of Honor.
In his recent interview, Macron appeared dismayed by this in particular. “Am I going to start stripping the Legion of Honor from artists or officials when they say things that shock me?” he said. “The answer is no… You can accuse someone — maybe there are victims, and I respect them, and I want them to be able to defend their rights. But there is also a presumption of innocence.”
The comments unsurprisingly garnered sharp criticism from feminist organizations and activists in France. “Manhunts remain prohibited. The hunt for women, on the other hand, remains open,” the group Osez Le Féminisme wrote on Twitter.
Depardieu is one of France’s most famous and acclaimed actors, having been nominated for 17 César Awards and winning two: His first in 1981 for La Dernier Metro and his second in 1991 for Cyrano de Bergerac. Depardieu also managed to make the leap into Hollywood, earning an Oscar nomination for Cyrano de Bergerac and appearing in films like 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Green Card, The Man in the Iron Mask, and Life of Pi. But the actor has also been dogged by controversy: In 2011, he infamously urinated in a bottle while on a flight, and the following year, he was accused of punching a motorist in a road rage incident as well as drunk driving.
