Once the doyen of French cinema, Gerard Depardieu has in recent years become better known for his unquenchable thirst for fine wine and obsession with sex. In April this year, 13 women accused him of sexual assault over the past two decades.
Depardieu has in recent months come increasingly under scrutiny after facing a litany of allegations of sexual transgression and rape. What commentators had once been inclined to take as a rough disregard for correctness has now been called out as unmistakable sexism and harassment after he was filmed making obscene remarks to women on a filmed documentary visit to North Korea in 2018.
Aware that the cameras are on him, the actor was filmed speaking in the crudest terms about female reproductive organs and made lewd gestures towards several women to whom he was introduced, possibly on the premise that they did not understand his comments in French.
The programme was aired on Thursday 7 December and met with widespread disgust. Reactions from within the film industry have sounded the alarm on behaviour that they say for too long has been overlooked. Casting director Sophie Lainé Diodovic told France Info: "Gerard Depardieu is the visible part of the iceberg… It’s our Weinstein. It’s the same thing - everyone knew for a long time, but nobody said anything. There was an omerta."
Already the cinema icon had been under investigation following accusations of rape and sexual assault in 2020 in the wake of a complaint made by actress Charlotte Arnould. In an open letter to French newspaper Le Figaro on 1 October, Depardieu responded to allegations, saying: "All my life, I’ve been provocative, outgoing, sometimes rude. … I never meant to do any harm and I apologize for behaving like a child trying to entertain the crowd. But I’m not a rapist nor a predator."
But in light of the shocking footage aired last week, the actor has become a figure of revulsion. His case is made worse as also on 7 December, a female actor who had accused Depardieu of sexual assault died in hospital after jumping into the Seine river in an apparent suicide attempt.
Guest of honour
Whilst the bloated celebrity has become a pariah in his home country, he has long found life agreeable in Belgium having moved across the border to Estaimpuis – a municipality on the outskirts of Tournai, Wallonia – in late 2012. Although it was first supposed that he was only residing in Belgium for fiscal reasons, the actor was soon embraced as an economic asset for the local area, purchasing a high-end bed and breakfast and reportedly starting an aviation company.
Depardieu further ingratiated himself with the community when he threw a local party, with a sumptuous hog roast and no shortage of beverages. He was at the time praised by the local mayor, who said "It's an honour to have him here" whilst highlighting the business opportunities the well-endowed newcomer brought to the area.
The wine shop of Gerard Depardieu in Estaimpuis. Credit: Belga / Jonas Hamers / ImageGlobe.
Depardieu spent much of his spare time in the area during this period, opening a wine shop and becoming an honorary guest at Ramdan film festival. Warmly received by the local administration, MP and former energy minister Marie-Christine Marghem recalls a "well-educated and convivial man" and stressed that she had never felt uncomfortable in his presence.
Marghem told La Capitale: "He had a provocative side to him, sometimes made worse after drinking too much." However, she highlighted the positives he had brought to the area and said that she would not comment on accusations relayed in the press. "I will leave this matter to the justice system."
Meanwhile, deputy mayor of Estaimpuis Daniel Senesael has spoken of his disenchantment with Depardieu, after the pair had once been close. In a 2019 documentary on the actor, Senesael had recounted how Depardieu "drank excessively and would stuff himself with food". Now, the local official says he has no contact with Depardieu and said he would not vouch for him these days.
Similarly, present mayor of Tournai Paul-Olivier Delannois has said that the French vedette should be treated as any other citizen, adding "I absolutely do not condone [his explicit statements]. If there is a complaint I will stand by the justice system."
Depardieu presents his wine, produced along with his partner Bernard Magrez, at the K-Nal restaurant in Brussels, 20 April 2006. Credit: Belga
