The China Mail - Abuse in French entertainment sector is 'endemic', inquiry finds

The inquiry, led by feminist Greens MP Sandrine Rousseau, was spurred by allegations from Judith Godreche who accused two French directors of abusing her when she was a teenager.

In a final damning report, seen by AFP ahead of its release on Wednesday, the inquiry accused the entertainment sector of being a "talent grinding machine" and made 86 recommendations to better protect actors and children on set.

"Moral, sexist, and sexual violence in the cultural sector is systemic, endemic, and persistent," read a conclusion from Rousseau, who has overseen six months of hearings that saw testimony from 350 people in the film, theatre and TV sectors.

The report follows the sexual assault trial last month of screen legend Gerard Depardieu, who is the highest-profile figure to face criminal accusations following the #MeToo movement which encouraged women to speak out against violence.

#MeToo was publicly resisted by some in the French entertainment sector when it first emerged in 2017, including actress Catherine Deneuve, who saw it as a puritan American import that encouraged the airing of unsubstantiated allegations.

Depardieu, who faces accusations from around a dozen women, was backed by 60 film and art figures in a 2023 petition, while President Emmanuel Macron has called him a "towering actor" who "makes France proud".

Depardieu denies the allegations and told his trial that he "adored" women and was not a "groper". A verdict is due on May 13.

The report questions the prevalent view in France that abusive behaviour by top cultural figures can be excused in the name of art.

"The 'cultural exception', but at what price?" it asks.

"In our country, there's a cult of talent and creative genius," Erwan Balanant, a centrist MP on the commission, told AFP.

- Saying 'no' -

Some of France's biggest stars agreed to testify to the parliamentary inquiry including Juliette Binoche, Jean Dujardin and Pierre Niney, but usually behind closed doors and sometimes on condition that their remarks were not made public.

Some of the strongest testimony came from Godreche, 53, who railed against the "impunity" in the film industry and the "inaction" of its leading lights.

"There’s not a single person from my past with an established role in the cinema world -- and therefore, in positions of power ... who has written to me since I spoke out," said the actress who appeared in "The Spanish Apartment", "The Man in the Iron Mask", or "Potiche", which featured Depardieu.

Fellow actress Sara Forestier described in November how she had repeatedly said "no" to directors who wanted to sleep with her and who threatened to take roles away if she refused.

"Until the day I said 'no' one too many times -- and I paid the price for it," she added, recounting how she had to leave a shoot in 2017 after allegedly being slapped by an actor, who was later identified as Nicolas Duvauchelle.

- Crossing the line? -

Jean Dujardin, an Oscar winner in 2012 for his turn in "The Artist", conceded that some male actors might have failed to denounce abuse in the past, but that attitudes were changing.

"We don't see everything -- and perhaps we don't want to see," Dujardin, 52, said, according to a transcript published last month.

He added that "we no longer say what we used to say 10 or 15 years ago, and we won’t say the same things in 10 years either... I feel that sexist reactions and clumsy remarks are gradually disappearing".

In mid-March, veteran celebrity agent Dominique Besnehard challenged some of the testimony from actresses about sexual abuse, leading to a clash with Rousseau who accused him of making "derogatory remarks".

"When I was an agent, I saw some actresses cross the line a little. You don't go to a hotel with a director," Besnehard said.

Gilles Lellouche, a widely admired French star who voices Obelix in the Asterix films, recounted an experience involving a woman director who tried to "seduce" him.

"I didn't feel violently attacked -- it was things like hands under my shirt. If I had done the same to a woman, it wouldn't have been okay," he said.

Z.Huang--ThChM