New episode in the controversy in France around Gerard Depardieu, indicted for rape and the subject of another complaint for sexual assault. At the start of the week, 56 cultural figures signed a platform in support of the actor, to call for respect for the presumption of innocence, stressing that “attacking Gérard Depardieu in this way” amounted to “attacking the art “. A controversial position which prompted the publication yesterday Friday of a counter-opinion by 600 artists.
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“ When we attack Depardieu, it would be art that we are attacking! As if Depardieu represented art in France. As if the status of artist or talent justified singular treatment », take offense to the 600 signatories, including the singer Angèle, the comedian Waly Dia and the rapper Médine. The column was published by the left-wing collective Brains Not Available, on a blog hosted on the Mediapart website.
In their sights, the platform of support for the actor, but also the words of Emmanuel Macron who insisted ten days ago, invited on the France 5 channel, on the presumption of innocence, denouncing a “ manhunt » and assuring that Depardieu “ made France proud »: for the signatories, these are “ so much spit in the face of the victims of Gérard Depardieu but also of all the victims of sexist and sexual violence. It is the sinister and perfect illustration of the world before which refuses to let things change. “.
Read alsoGérard Depardieu: artists denounce a “lynching” of the actor, feminist associations react
These artists also wish, they assure, “ let justice do its job ”, but they consider that “ faced with the lack of taking victims seriously » by police and judicial institutions, “ it is everyone’s duty to refuse the trivialization of words and actions such as those of Gérard Depardieu “. Hence their call, facing “ in complicit silence “, they say, to “ break the echo of impunity “. And to conclude, “ The production of art is not an abstraction located outside of social dynamics “.