(Paris) The family of Gérard Depardieu denounced “a cabal” on Sunday after the broadcast of a shocking TV documentary on the French actor, a new stage in a media response from his entourage after his lawyers spoke out.
“Of course, we are often shocked by Gérard’s comments, but our father/grandfather/uncle is being subjected to an unprecedented cabal,” write several members of his family, including his daughter, the actress Julie Depardieu, in a column published by the Journal du Dimanche.
Deploring a “collective rage” against the actor, they assure that, “in private, with his children, he is someone extremely modest, delicate and even prudish! “.
On Saturday, the actor informed AFP, through his lawyers, that he was placing his Legion of Honor “at the disposal” of the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak. The latter announced on Friday a disciplinary procedure which could lead to the withdrawal of this prestigious award.
Me Béatrice Geissmann Achille and Me Christian Saint-Palais wondered in this press release if the minister was not dealing “an additional blow to an already dying presumption of innocence”.
Gérard Depardieu has been indicted since 2020 for rape, after a complaint from a French actress, Charlotte Arnould, accusations which he refutes.
But it was the recent broadcast of a report from the program Complément d’investigation on the France 2 channel that caused a shock wave.
In these images, the actor multiplies misogynistic and insulting remarks while addressing women, not sparing a little girl with his obscene remarks.
Concomitantly with its broadcast, a second complaint for sexual assault was filed by the actress Hélène Darras, for facts a priori prescribed, dating back to 2007 on a shoot. The actor also denies these accusations.
The broadcast of this documentary had international repercussions. The actor of Cyrano de Bergerac or 1492: Christopher Columbus was thus removed from the National Order of Quebec and his title of honorary citizen of the commune of Estaimpuis, in Belgium.
