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The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gérard Depardieu's conviction was a historic moment for #MeToo in France
When Gérard Depardieu, one of France's biggest cinema stars, was placed on the sex offender register this week after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, it was a historic moment for the #MeToo movement in the country. 'It was a message to all men in power that they are answerable to the courts and can be convicted,' said Catherine Le Magueresse, who represented the European Association Against Violence Towards Women at Work (AVFT) at the trial. 'The message is: watch out, the impunity is over.' Depardieu, 76, who has made more than 200 films and TV series, had for years personified one of the key obstacles to the French #MeToo movement: France's cult of the creative genius. Depardieu's acting talent and international fame was seen as so great that he was untouchable. French cinema and politics had been slow – even reluctant – to take abuse claims seriously. 'This is the first time such a strong signal has been given that no one is above the law for violence against women – that message has been lacking until now,' said the Green MP Sandrine Rousseau who co-authored a recent parliamentary report that found sexual violence was 'endemic' in the French entertainment industry. More now needs to be done, she argued. The judge convicted Depardieu of sexually assaulting the two women on the set of the film, Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters), noting that the actor seemed 'not to have understood the notion of consent nor the injurious consequences of his actions'. Depardieu had trapped, grabbed and touched the women, shouting obscenities and calling one a 'snitch' for speaking out. The priority now was to clean up sexism within the legal system itself, feminists said. Depardieu's trial showed that French courts can be brutal for sexual violence survivors. This had been clear at the trial last year of 51 men over the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, who had been drugged unconscious by her husband. Pelicot said she was 'humiliated' by defence lawyers, who asked if the men might have thought she was drunk or pretending to be asleep. Her lawyer, Antoine Camus, criticised how, in French courts, 'there is still discussion of whether you're a 'good' victim'. In the Depardieu trial, the judge went further. Setting a legal precedent, he ruled that Depardieu's defence lawyer, Jérémie Assous, had been so 'excessively harsh' to the two women in court that they must be compensated for 'secondary victimisation'. One woman, Amélie, a set decorator, said her experience of being questioned by Depardieu's defence had been 'hell'. Assous had told the women they were liars and not real victims. He called the women's lawyers hysterical, 'abject and stupid'. Céline Piques of the feminist group Osez Le Féminisme said the ruling on the treatment of the Depardieu complainants in court could be a turning point in France. 'Depardieu's defence was absolutely shocking, with multiple excesses and sexist attacks. When women file a legal complaint they are mistreated at every step, from the investigation to the trial, where they are attacked with sexist archetypes and lawyers try to destabilise them with tactics outside the legal sphere. In Depardieu's trial, there was at least recognition that this is not acceptable.' Depardieu's behaviour was well-known for years, witnesses told the court. Yet the actor had been defended at the highest level of French culture and politics. In 2023, 50 film and cultural figures, including the actor Charlotte Rampling and singer Carla Bruni, signed a petition entitled 'Don't Cancel Gérard Depardieu'. Depardieu's greatest defender was the French president. Emmanuel Macron – elected in 2017 just as the #MeToo movement went global after revelations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein – had vowed to combat violence against women and girls. But in 2023, when Depardieu was under formal investigation for rape in another case and also facing scrutiny over sexist comments revealed in a TV documentary, Macron defended him, saying 'he makes France proud'. Asked at the time about stripping Depardieu of a state award, Macron suggested Depardieu was the target of a 'manhunt'. Macron has yet to comment on Depardieu's conviction. Aurore Bergé, the French equality minister, said after the verdict: 'No talent, however great, has the right to immunity.' Depardieu, who denied the charges and will appeal his conviction, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. Earlier this year, the film director Christophe Ruggia, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting the actor Adèle Haenel in the early 2000s when she was aged between 12 and 15, was given a four-year sentence with two years suspended and two to be served with an electronic bracelet. Cases in France can be slow to come to court. The Paris prosecutor's office has requested that Depardieu face a further trial for rape and sexual assault in a separate case brought by the actor Charlotte Arnould, but no date has been set. Depardieu has denied those allegations. The French TV presenter and newsreader Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, known as PPDA, has been placed under formal investigation for alleged rape, after many women came forward in what is seen as one of the biggest #MeToo cases in France. But the case is taking a long time. He denies the allegations. Emmanuelle Dancourt, the president of the association MeTooMedia, is among the women who filed complaints against d'Arvor. She attended Depardieu's trial and said there should be a 'complete overhaul' of the French legal system, with specialist courts on sexist and sexual violence. Dancourt said that although show business was important, #MeToo groups in France were joining forces across all sectors and social strata, including industry and lower-income jobs, so action didn't focus only on a '#MeToo of the 1%'. She said women who speak out in France, including Depardieu's two victims, still see an impact on their careers. 'France cannot keep lagging behind culturally and politically on this,' Dancourt said. 'It can't be one step forward, two steps back.'
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sexual violence and harassment ‘endemic' in French entertainment industry, report finds
Sexual violence and sexual harassment are 'endemic' in France's entertainment industry, a damning report by French politicians has found, concluding that women and children are still being routinely preyed on, despite the country's #MeToo movement. The Green MP Sandrine Rousseau and the centrist Erwan Balanant found that sexual violence, harassment and bullying were 'systemic, endemic and persistent' in all sectors of the French culture and entertainment industry, from TV and cinema to theatre, radio, comedy, advertising, rock and classical music. After a five-month inquiry, in which they described receiving 'overwhelming' testimony from almost 400 people, including actors and industry workers, the politicians said attitudes in France were 'barely evolving' many years after the #MeToo movement began. The parliamentary inquiry had heard accounts of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, with 'numerous' alleged assaults happening recently. They said a decades-long culture of silencing victims was getting worse in France, amid a sense of 'collective denial'. They described an 'ambient sexism' as well as racism in the sector. The lawmakers made almost 90 recommendations, including better protections for actors and models aged under 18, and improved regulation of actors' agents and casting procedures. They also proposed banning the sexualisation of minors on screen and in fashion photos. They said compulsory intimacy coordinators should be present for any scene of intimacy involving minors, and that intimacy coordinators should be suggested as compulsory for cinema, TV and theatre. Women working on film sets told how, in the course of their daily work, senior male crew members would make sexual comments such as demands for oral sex. Young women described being pushed up against a wall and sexually assaulted while at work. One assistant director described being summoned to see an actor and finding him waiting with his trousers down. The report found that sexual assault was common during the casting process. Scenes of sex or nudity were also found to have been a place for sexual assaults and rape to occur. One film worker said she realised that a female actor had been raped during a bedroom scene, but the director took no action when it was reported to him. The report found children were particularly vulnerable and subject to abuse in cinema and the performing arts. One actor described how, aged 10, she had to appear in a rape scene, but was prevented from meeting the actor first and was taken by surprise when she was grabbed by him. 'I was petrified,' she said. Another teenager was pushed and verbally abused during a romantic scene with an actor decades older. One young child had his trousers pulled down on set when he did not want to perform in only his underpants. One director reminded another child of his father's death just before a scene, to get the right look of emotion for a shot. The politicians called for better regulation of music schools, acting schools and choirs after hearing allegations of a music teacher telling a young girl 'to look more like a whore' while playing the flute. They also heard allegations of a choir master kissing girls on the neck. Rousseau said what struck her in testimony from the film industry was how young some actors were when sexual harassment began. She said: 'For some, it started in childhood, in school, at castings and went on all the way through their careers.' The actor Sara Forestier, who started working in film aged 13, told the inquiry that at her first casting she was asked to take off her underwear and throw it on to someone's plate. Throughout her career she repeatedly had to say 'no' to directors who wanted to have sex with her and who threatened to take roles away if she refused. 'In our country, there's a cult of talent and creative genius,' Balanant said, adding that some star directors and actors felt they could act how they pleased. The report comes weeks after the Paris trial for sexual assault of the French film star, Gérard Depardieu. He denies the charges against him, and the verdict will be announced next month. The actor and director Judith Godrèche, who became a leading voice in France's #MeToo movement and called for the inquiry, said Wednesday's report was 'terrifying'. She has filed complaints against the directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for sexually assaulting her while she was a teenager. Both have denied the allegations.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Terrifying' French film abuses report prompts calls for change
A French inquiry into abuses in the entertainment sector was branded as "terrifying" by a leading actress on Wednesday as MPs called on the industry to stamp out the "endemic" mistreatment of performers. The parliamentary inquiry, which reported its findings publicly on Wednesday, interviewed some of the biggest names in French cinema among the 350 people who testified about their experiences. "The professional entertainment world needs to listen, read and take on board what is in the report," the head of the cross-party investigation, Sandrine Rousseau, told reporters at a press conference in Paris. Campaigners hope that the conclusions can help bring about a sea-change in the French film, TV and other performing arts sectors that have been hit by a series of public sexual abuse scandals in recent years. "It's impressive and rather terrifying," said French actress Judith Godreche, whose allegations about abuse at the hands of two French directors sparked the inquiry. "But I'm not surprised because I didn't expect anything better," the 53-year-old, who appeared in "The Spanish Apartment" and "The Man in the Iron Mask", told Franceinfo radio station. The parliamentary inquiry concluded that "moral, sexist, and sexual violence in the cultural sector is systemic, endemic, and persistent" and made nearly 90 recommendations including better safeguarding for children and women during castings and on set. Rousseau called on the Cannes Film Festival, which begins next month, to set an example. "The Cannes Film Festival must be the place where this shift in mindset happens, the place where we say loud and clear... amid the glitter and the red carpets... that finally, we all want things to change: every one of us, at every level of the industry," she added. The annual gathering of the world's film elite on the French Riviera is set to begin on May 13, with festival organisers set to reveal the 2025 line-up of films on Thursday. - Depardieu trial - The first day of Cannes this year will coincide with the verdict in the first sexual assault trial of French film legend Gerard Depardieu which gripped the country last month. Depardieu, who is accused of assaulting two women on the set of a film in 2021, is the highest-profile figure to face criminal accusations following the #MeToo movement which encouraged women to speak out against violence. The parliamentary inquiry called into question a prevalent view in France that abusive behaviour by top cultural figures can be excused in the name of art. "The 'cultural exception', but at what price?" it asks. "In our country, there's a cult of talent and creative genius," Erwan Balanant, a centrist MP on the commission, told AFP. Some of France's biggest silver-screen stars agreed to testify to the inquiry including Juliette Binoche, Jean Dujardin and Pierre Niney, but usually behind closed doors and sometimes on condition that their remarks were not made public. Actor Sara Forestier, who was present at Wednesday's press conference, told MPs in November how she had repeatedly said "no" to directors who wanted to sleep with her and who threatened to take roles away if she refused. "Until the day I said 'no' one too many times -- and I paid the price for it," she added, recounting how she had to leave a shoot in 2017 after allegedly being slapped. bur-adp/phz
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
French MPs slam 'endemic' abuse in entertainment sector
French MPs have criticised "endemic" abuse in the entertainment sector after a months-long inquiry into sexual violence that saw stars and other actors reveal instances of bullying and assault. The inquiry, led by feminist Greens MP Sandrine Rousseau, was spurred by allegations from Judith Godreche who accused two French directors -- Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon -- of abusing her when she was a teenager. Both deny the charges. In a final damning report, seen by AFP ahead of its release on Wednesday, the inquiry accused the entertainment sector of being a "talent grinding machine" and made 86 recommendations to better protect actors and children on set. "Moral, sexist, and sexual violence in the cultural sector is systemic, endemic, and persistent," read a conclusion from Rousseau who has overseen six months of hearings that saw testimony from 350 people in the film, theatre and TV sectors. The report comes following the sexual assault trial last month of screen legend Gerard Depardieu, who is the highest-profile figure to face criminal accusations following the #MeToo movement which encouraged women to speak out against violence. #MeToo was publicly resisted by some in the French entertainment sector when it first emerged in 2017, including actress Catherine Deneuve, who saw it as a puritan American import that encouraged unsubstantiated allegations to be aired. Depardieu, who faces accusations from around a dozen women, was backed by 60 film and art figures in a 2023 petition, while President Emmanuel Macron has called him a "towering actor" who "makes France proud". The report questions the prevalent view in France that law-breaking behaviour by top cultural figures can be excused in the name of art. "The 'cultural exception', but at what price?" the report asks. "In our country, there's a cult of talent and creative genius," Erwan Balanant, a centrist MP on the commission, told AFP. - Saying 'no' - Some of France's biggest stars agreed to testify to the parliamentary inquiry including Juliette Binoche, Jean Dujardin and Pierre Niney, but usually behind closed doors and sometimes on condition that their remarks were not made public. Some of the strongest remarks came from Godreche, 53, who railed against the "impunity" in the film industry and the "inaction" of its leading lights. "There's not a single person from my past with an established role in the cinema world -- and therefore, in positions of power ... who has written to me since I spoke out," said the actress who appeared in "The Spanish Apartment", "The Man in the Iron Mask", or "Potiche", which featured Depardieu. Fellow actress Sara Forestier described in November how she had repeatedly said "no" to directors who wanted to sleep with her and who threatened to take roles away if she refused. "Until the day I said 'no' one too many times -- and I paid the price for it," she added, recounting how she had to leave a shoot in 2017 after allegedly being slapped by an actor, who was later identified as Nicolas Duvauchelle. Jean Dujardin, an Oscar winner in 2012 for his turn in "The Artist", conceded that some male actors might have failed to denounce abuse in the past, but that attitudes were changing. "We don't see everything -- and perhaps we don't want to see," Dujardin, 52, said, according to a transcript published last month. He added that "we no longer say what we used to say 10 or 15 years ago, and we won't say the same things in 10 years either... I feel that sexist reactions and clumsy remarks are gradually disappearing". jt-fbe-adp/phz
