A Belgian municipality on Saturday (Dec 16) stripped French cinema legend Gerard Depardieu of the title of honorary citizen over misogynistic feedback broadcast in a French documentary earlier this month.
Depardieu, 74, was charged with rape in 2020 and has additionally confronted 13 accusations of sexual harassment or assault, all of which he denies.
The documentary, The Fall Of The Ogre, aired on French public tv on Dec 7, confirmed clips of the actor throughout a 2018 journey to North Korea.
He repeatedly makes express sexual feedback within the presence of a feminine interpreter, sexualising a small woman driving a horse.
The actor’s attorneys criticised the documentary in an announcement Saturday, saying that it was “a contested and questionable programme which broadcast a montage of photographs captured within the intimate and personal sphere”.
However the Belgium municipality of Estaimpuis introduced it was revoking the title given to Depardieu when he lived there in 2013.
The native authorities stated the actor’s feedback broadcast on tv “run counter to the values promoted by the municipality of Estaimpuis”.
The Belgian determination comes a day after France’s tradition minister denounced Depardieu’s behaviour.
Rima Abdul Malak stated a “disciplinary process” was being launched to determine whether or not to strip him of the nation’s high honour, the Legion of Honour.
“MANHUNT”
The French movie star’s attorneys informed AFP on Saturday that he was placing his Legion of Honour award on the disposal of the minister.
Nevertheless, Depardieu’s attorneys, Beatrice Geissmann Achille and Christian Saint-Palais, prompt in an announcement that such a transfer might deal “an extra blow to an already dying presumption of innocence”.
Additionally they questioned whether or not it was a part of Abdul Malak’s position to take part “so actively within the manhunt” and “media lynching” to which they imagine their consumer is being subjected.
The actor – who has greater than 200 roles to his identify, together with within the 1990 comedy Inexperienced Card and the Netflix sequence Marseille – has denied any wrongdoing.
Within the face of the rising controversy in France, Belgian media has reported that Depardieu has returned to stay within the nation in a village near the French border.
Depardieu’s preliminary transfer to Belgium again in 2012 was closely criticised in his homeland because it was considered as a method of dodging the French tax system.
The Canadian province of Quebec on Wednesday stripped Depardieu of its high honour over his “scandalous” feedback in opposition to ladies within the France 2 report.
