Gérard Depardieu’s family denounces “a cabal” in a column published by the Journal du Dimanche, following the broadcast of a shocking TV documentary on the actor, a new stage in a media response from those around him after a shooting speech from his lawyers on Saturday.
“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: three of his children, notably the actress Julie Depardieu as well as as Roxane and Jean, her niece Delphine and her granddaughter Élisabeth.
Deploring a “collective rage” against the actor, they assure that, “in private, with his children, he is someone extremely modest, delicate and even prudish!”.
The authors of this column, who claim to speak on behalf of “the entire Depardieu family”, add that the actor is being criticized today for “what he was encouraged to do yesterday”, and recall that he apologized for his “verbal excesses” in a letter published by Le Figaro. “We absolutely must stop the confusion between words and actions,” declare the authors, who consider their parent to be “rude, saucy, Gallic, heavy sometimes, yes, but not violent!”
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On Saturday, the star actor announced 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 also wondered in this press release if the minister “is 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 an actress, Charlotte Arnould, accusations which he refutes. But it was the recent broadcast of a report from the program “Complément d’investigation” on France 2 which caused a shock wave. In these images, this figure of French cinema 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 “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.