Some 60 French artists have condemned the “lynching” of actor Gerard Depardieu, accused of rape since 2020 and at the center of a scandal following the recent broadcast of a documentary on television, in an open letter, AFP reports. Agerpres.

Among the signatories of the open letter, published on Monday evening in the daily newspaper Le Figaro, are director Bertrand Blier, actresses Nathalie Bayeux, Carole Bouquet and Charlotte Rampling, actors Jacques Weber, Pierre Richard and Gerard Darmont, as well as singers Roberto Alagna, Carla Bruni , Ariel Dombasl and Jacques Dutron.

“Gerard Depardieu is probably the greatest of actors. The last sacred monster of cinema. We can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that has fallen upon him, in the face of the flood of hatred pouring upon his person, without any nuance, in utter confusion and contempt for the presumption of innocence from which he would have benefited, as would any human being, if not for the giant that is cinema,” they wrote in the text of the document.

“When you attack Gerard Depardieu in this way, you are actually attacking art. Thanks to his acting genius, Gerard Depardieu participates in the artistic brilliance of our country (…) No matter what happens, no one will ever be able to erase the trace of his incomparable work, which will forever mark our era. The rest, everything else, belongs to justice. Only justice. Exclusive,” added the signatories of the letter.

French President Emmanuel Macron and several members of the actor’s family, including his daughter Julie Depardieu, have already publicly defended Gerard Depardieu, who is accused of one of two complaints filed against him in France. The French star has already denied both accusations.

The broadcast of the report in the “Complement d’enquete” program of the France 2 TV channel at the beginning of December caused a shock with an international resonance.

In these shots, Gerard Depardieu, who is considered the sacred monster of French cinema, could be seen and heard when he makes a series of misogynistic and offensive statements against women, and even a little girl did not escape his obscene words nearby.

France Televisions, the media group that owns France 2, announced on Friday that the final piece of the documentary had been “authenticated” by a bailiff. This reaction followed statements by the French head of state in which he suggested that the script could have been changed during editing, as previously claimed by the actor’s family.

After the outbreak of the scandal, Gerard Depardieu was expelled from the Order National of Quebec, the commune of Estempuis in Belgium stripped him of the title of honorary citizen, and his wax statue was removed from the tour at the Grevin museum in Paris.

Read also:

• Emmanuel Macron defends Gerard Depardieu, accused of rape: “France is proud of him”
• “Sneaky”. Macron slammed after saying ‘France is proud’ of rape accused Gerard Depardieu
• Actor Gerard Depardieu filed a third complaint of sexual violence: a Spanish journalist says the French star raped her