Depardieu case: Macron assures that he “never protected the aggressor from victims”

He defends himself months after the scandal. Emmanuel Macron insisted in an interview with Elle magazine on Wednesday that actor Gérard Depardieu “did not feel complacent,” claiming that he “never defended the aggressor in the face of the victims.”

Gerard Depardieu will stand trial next October in Paris for sexually assaulting two women during filming in 2021. Since 2020, he has also been charged with rape and sexual assault against the young actress Charlotte Arnoux. Several more complaints have been filed against the 75-year-old actor, who denies the facts of which he is accused.

In late December, before the actor was summoned to court, Emmanuel Macron defended the actor, calling him a “huge actor” of whom “France is proud” and condemning the “manhunt.”

“There is no complacency on my part,” the President of the Republic assured in Elle magazine, where he covers several topics considered important for women. “Just a desire to respect our principles, such as the presumption of innocence. The same principles that will allow justice to be served next October, and that’s a good thing,” he added.

“Courage” by actresses Judith Godrèche, Juliette Binoche and Isilde Le Besco

The head of state assured that he has “deep respect, good will and great trust in the words of women” and said that he is “uncompromising on issues of rape, domination, this culture of cruelty.”

“My priority has always been the protection of victims, and this applies to the Depardieu case,” he continued.

Saluting the “courage” of actresses Judith Godrèche, Juliette Binoche and Isilde Le Besco, who condemned sexual violence in the film industry, Emmanuel Macron emphasizes that “the advancement of the truth is carried out through freedom of speech, through the work of journalists, through the work of investigators. Then only justice establishes guilt,” he added.

Emmanuel Macron also recalled his intention to change the definition of rape in France to include the concept of consent. Parliamentarians are “working on this issue with the justice minister to ensure that the proposed text is released by the end of the year,” he said.

In the wake of the #MeToo shock wave, there have been calls for months for France to include the concept of consent in its legislation, like other European countries. The #MeToo movement “has calmed me down, made me doubt, revealed things to me,” he admitted.