His colleagues condemn the "lynching" of the French acting giant.
Depardieu was accused of rape in 2020, and now, due to a recently aired documentary, he is at the center of a scandal that has received a lot of publicity, reports Agerpres based on AFP.
Among the signatories of the open letter published in the daily newspaper Le Figaro on Monday evening are director Bertrand Blier, actresses Nathalie Baye, Carole Bouquet and Charlotte Rampling, actors Jacques Weber, Pierre Richard and Gerard Darmon, and singers Roberto Alagna, Carla Bruni, Arielle Dombasle and Jacques Dutronc .
"Gerard Depardieu is perhaps the greatest actor. The last holy monster of cinema. We can no longer listen to the lynch mob, seeing the flood of hatred pouring on his person, which is poured on him without any nuance, in complete confusion and with contempt for the presumption of innocence, which he, like any other person, could enjoy if it were not for the giant of the cinema"
- they wrote in the text of the document.
“When you attack Gerard Depardieu in this way, you are really attacking art. With his acting genius, Gerard Depardieu contributes to the artistic brilliance of our country (…) No matter what happens, no one will be able to erase the incomparable mark of his work, which will leave its mark on our time forever. The rest, everything else is just a matter of justice. Only for justice. Only"
- added the signatories of the letter. French President Emmanuel Macron and several members of the actor's family, including his daughter Julie Depardieu, have already spoken publicly in defense of Gerard Depardieu, who was indicted following one of the two reports filed against him in France. The French star has already denied both accusations.
A report aired on the France 2 television program Complement d'enquete at the beginning of December caused an international shock wave. In the recording, Gerard Depardieu, considered the holy monster of French cinema, could be seen and heard making a series of misogynistic and insulting comments about women, and he did not even spare a little girl nearby from his obscene words.
France Televisions, the media group that owns France 2, announced on Friday that the final part of the documentary had been "authenticated" by an executive. This came after the French head of state suggested that the scene could have been changed during the cut, as the actor's family had previously claimed.
After the scandal broke out, Gerard Depardieu was expelled from the National Order of Quebec, the Belgian municipality of Estaimpuis stripped him of his honorary citizenship, and his wax statue was removed from its tour in the Grevin Museum in Paris.
Featured image: Gérard Depardieu (Photo: MTI/EPA/Guillaume Horcaujelo)
