Swiss TV to scrap films featuring controversial French star
Depardieu at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.
Keystone / Guillaume Horcajuelo
French-language Swiss public television channel RTS will no longer show films starring actor Gérard Depardieu, following offensive comments and accusations of sexual violence against the 75-year-old Frenchman.
A spokesman for RTS confirmed the decision – initially reported by the Le Matin Dimanche newspaper – to news agency Keystone-SDA on Sunday. The decision is a “pragmatic” one which will be reviewed depending on how the situation develops, he said.
A film will be removed from the TV schedule if “we have the feeling that the majority of the public could feel offended” by it or a person in it, the spokesperson continued. This could also happen if courts have not yet delivered a verdict. It is the task of a public broadcaster to cater to the mood of its audience, RTS indicated.
Women have repeatedly come forward to accuse Depardieu of sexual violence in recent years. In 2018, actress Charlotte Arnould sued him for rape; the case has been under investigation since 2020. Another lawsuit against him for sexual abuse has been ongoing since mid-September, regarding an alleged 2007 incident.
The award-winning actor, who has appeared in over 200 films, denies the allegations.
Depardieu’s image was recently further tarnished by the broadcast of a documentary film in which he made misogynistic remarks. In “Complément d’enquête”, a programme about a trip to North Korea which was broadcast at the beginning of December, Depardieu shocked viewers with misogynistic and degrading comments.
“Women like to ride because their clitoris rubs against the saddle,” he said on camera. The programme also shows him visiting a stud farm, before he again says things which put his North Korean interpreter on the spot, such as “I weigh 124 kilos – with an erection 126”.
The remarks sparked international reaction. French Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak said they were “disgusting” and that Depardieu’s behaviour was a “disgrace to France”.
RTS has previously made similar decisions, for example regarding French comedian Pierre Palmade. In February, while driving under the influence of cocaine, Palmade caused an accident in which three people were seriously injured.
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