{"id":106664,"date":"2025-05-16T15:59:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/106664\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:59:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:59:20","slug":"with-depardieus-conviction-has-metoo-finally-won-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/106664\/","title":{"rendered":"With Depardieu’s conviction, has #MeToo finally won in France?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 For powerful men in France\u2019s film industry, this was a week of reckoning. G\u00e9rard Depardieu<\/a> \u2014 the country\u2019s most famous male actor \u2014 was convicted of sexual assault. Two days later, the Cannes Film Festival barred another actor<\/a> accused of rape from walking the red carpet.<\/p>\n

Together, the decisions sent a message that France had long resisted: that artistic brilliance may no longer shield those who abuse their power.<\/p>\n

For decades, Depardieu was revered as French cinema\u2019s \u201csacred monster\u201d \u2014 a towering talent whose gluttony, volatility and magnetism became part of his myth. With more than 250 films to his name, many believed he would remain untouchable even after more than 20 women accused him of sexual misconduct<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, that myth has cracked. <\/p>\n

The verdict has revived a broader question France has ducked since the dawn of the #MeToo movement: Can a country that celebrates seduction and irreverence finally hold its male icons to account<\/a>?<\/p>\n

France has long lived its own #MeToo contradiction. That talent, charm, or intellect forgives misconduct. That the art excuses the artist. This is the land that gave the world Brigitte Bardot\u2019s pout and Catherine Deneuve\u2019s poise \u2014 and then watched both recoil when the movement came knocking. Deneuve has defended \u201cthe right\u201d to seduce<\/a>, while Bardot has dismissed feminism outright: \u201cI like men.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the ground is shifting \u2014 fast.<\/p>\n

Cannes\u2019 seismic shift<\/p>\n

Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence Tuesday for groping two women on a 2021 film set. He denies the charges and is appealing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of impunity of artists with a capital A,\u201d Carine Durrieu Diebolt, a lawyer for one of the two women who won their case against Depardieu, told The Associated Press. The verdict represented \u201ca bookend for putting actors on a pedestal because they were talented,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Two days later, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival barred actor Th\u00e9o Navarro-Mussy<\/a> \u2014 accused of rape by three former partners \u2014 from attending the premiere of a film he stars in, even though the file was dropped for lack of evidence. The women are launching a civil complaint.<\/p>\n

Navarro-Mussy denies wrongdoing. His lawyer said that she\u2019s unaware of any ongoing proceedings against him.<\/p>\n

What stunned wasn\u2019t just the decision, but who made it. Cannes director Thierry Fr\u00e9maux had long been seen as emblematic of the old guard. He defended Roman Polanski for years and continued to screen his films despite the director\u2019s 1977 guilty plea in the U.S. for sex with a 13-year-old. In 2018, when asked why Cannes still included Polanski, Fr\u00e9maux said: \u201cThese are complicated matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9maux opened 2023\u2019s festival with a film starring Johnny Depp<\/a>, despite the actor\u2019s highly public legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard over allegations of domestic abuse, in which he was never criminally charged. When asked about the backlash, Fr\u00e9maux replied: \u201cI only have one rule: it\u2019s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, the rules changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cannes decision is of course linked to the Depardieu verdict,\u201d said C\u00e9line Piques of Osez le f\u00e9minisme (\u201cDare Feminism!\u201d), a group that campaigns against sexual violence. \u201c(They\u2019ve) realized which way the wind is blowing. Fr\u00e9maux is trying to right the wrongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resistance remains<\/p>\n

Not everyone welcomed the verdict \u2014 or what followed \u2014 as a cultural turning point. <\/p>\n

Fanny Ardant, one of French cinema\u2019s grandes dames and a longtime friend of Depardieu, sat on his side in court<\/a>. She is now directing him in a film in Portugal, despite the conviction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFanny Ardant? She completely missed the point,\u201d said Piques. \u201cShe downplayed the violence, normalized it. That\u2019s rape culture, plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juliette Binoche, Cannes jury president and one of France\u2019s most respected actors, struck a note of restraint: \u201cHe\u2019s not a monster. He\u2019s a man \u2014 one who has, apparently, been desacralized.\u201d<\/p>\n

A justice system slowly opening<\/p>\n

In 2024, more than 22,000 rapes were reported in France. Fewer than 3% led to convictions. \u201cThe Depardieu verdict shows there\u2019s progress,\u201d said lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens, who works with victims of sexual assault. \u201cBut for most women, the barriers to justice remain enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bertrand Cantat \u2014 front man of Noir D\u00e9sir and once one of France\u2019s bestselling rock singers \u2014 launched a 2018 comeback tour, he had served just four years in prison for killing his partner, actor Marie Trintignant, during a violent assault.<\/p>\n

Despite public outrage, he returned to the stage and performed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be unthinkable today,\u201d said Piques. \u201cThe public mood has changed. What we tolerate has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shift in shame<\/p>\n

One breakthrough came not from a film set, but a courtroom in Avignon. The conviction of 51 men for drugging and raping Gisele Pelicot<\/a> \u2014 who chose to waive her anonymity and insisted on a public trial, turning private horror into public reckoning \u2014 marked a turning point. For years, shame was hers. Now, it belongs to the perpetrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt proved rapists aren\u2019t just strangers in alleys,\u201d said Piques. \u201cThey\u2019re husbands. Colleagues. Respected men.\u201d<\/p>\n

That shift in shame is now rippling through the cultural world \u2014 once seen as a bastion of male privilege. Recently, director Christophe Ruggia was convicted of abusing actor Ad\u00e8le Haenel when she was a minor, though he is appealing; and actor-director Nicolas Bedos, was sentenced for sexual assault. <\/p>\n

So did #MeToo win?<\/p>\n

Slowly but surely, yes. The system that long protected men like Depardieu is not yet dismantled, but it is shifting.<\/p>\n

As one of the actor\u2019s accusers said through tears after the ruling: \u201cI\u2019m very, very much satisfied with the decision. That\u2019s a victory for me, really. And a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 For powerful men in France\u2019s film industry, this was a week of reckoning. G\u00e9rard Depardieu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[48856,48847,48852,48853,22647,6639,48858,48860,48859,48862,188,77,2000,299,48845,36,4179,48857,48846,16839,48849,7136,388,48854,48861,48855,48848,34745,48850,48851,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-106664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-adle-haenel","9":"tag-amber-heard","10":"tag-anne-sophie-laguens","11":"tag-bertrand-cantat","12":"tag-brigitte-bardot","13":"tag-cannes-film-festival","14":"tag-carine-durrieu-diebolt","15":"tag-catherine-deneuve","16":"tag-christophe-ruggia","17":"tag-cline-piques","18":"tag-crime","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-eu","21":"tag-europe","22":"tag-fanny-ardant","23":"tag-france","24":"tag-general-news","25":"tag-gisele-pelicot","26":"tag-grard-depardieu","27":"tag-johnny-depp","28":"tag-juliette-binoche","29":"tag-legal-proceedings","30":"tag-lifestyle","31":"tag-marie-trintignant","32":"tag-metoo","33":"tag-nicolas-bedos","34":"tag-roman-polanski","35":"tag-sexual-assault","36":"tag-thierry-frmaux","37":"tag-tho-navarro-mussy","38":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}