Rampling condemns ‘lynching’ of Depardieu
British actress signs open letter calling star’s trial by media over sex assault claims an ‘attack on art’
CHARLOTTE RAMPLING has denounced the public “lynching” of disgraced actor Gérard Depardieu in an open letter signed by French stars including Carla Bruni.
The British actress joined more than 60 contemporaries in defending Depardieu in the face of mounting sexual assault accusations, writing that an attack on a “giant” of French cinema was an “attack on art”.
The intervention comes after Emmanuel Macron triggered anger in France for appearing to back Depardieu in a row over trial by media.
Over the past five years, more than a dozen women have come forward accusing the actor of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Today, he faces similar charges from three separate women in France and Spain. The actor denies the accusations.
But earlier this month, a damning documentary caused a fresh wave of public anger after he was filmed during a 2018 visit to North Korea making a string of vulgar comments towards his interpreter and making lewd remarks about a 10-year-old girl riding a horse.
The open letter, which Depardieu last night called “beautiful”, urges the public to refrain from passing judgment on the actor while the accusations are still under investigation.
Notable among the names was Rampling, 77, who has lived in France for the past 50 years and is the recipient of both an Honorary César and the Legion of Honour for her work.
“Gérard Depardieu is probably the greatest of all actors,” said the open letter published in French newspaper Le Figaro.
“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,” the letter reads. Bruni, the actress and wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, was among the others alongside Carole Bouquet, 66, the face of Chanel No 5 fragrance from 1986 to 1997 and Depardieu’s former girlfriend .
Recent footage from a documentary showed Depardieu in North Korea in 2018 watching a child trot around an enclosure. He said that women get sexual pleasure out of riding horses and called women “sluts”.
In another scene, he turned to the interpreter after weighing himself and said: “124 kilos, and right now I’m not erect. Erect is 126... I’ve got a beam in my pants.”
Despite the accusations and recent footage, signatories of the letter, who include French actors, singers, directors, film critics, playwrights and painters, ask readers not to focus on the charges but to “remember all the good that this man did for us, throughout his life”.
“When we attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, it is art that we attack. Through his genius as an actor, Gérard Depardieu contributes to the artistic influence of our country,” the letter reads. “He contributes to the history of art in the highest possible way. It is part of this history, and continues to enrich it. For this, France owes him so much. Cinema and theatre cannot do without his unique and extraordinary personality. To deprive yourself of this immense actor would be a tragedy, a defeat. The death of art. Ours.”
Mr Macron, the French president, also expressed public admiration for the actor in a TV interview this month, and said he refused to take part in a “manhunt” nor strip him of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit, as some critics have been calling for.
Feminist group Osez le féminisme, spoke out against the open letter yesterdaycalling it a tactic to silence victims and to protect a predator.
Depardieu last night said of the letter: “I think it’s very courageous on the part of the signatories. I was presented with this letter… I found it beautiful and so I told its author that he could publish it.”
‘France owes him so much. Cinema and theatre cannot do without his unique personality’