He speaks of an “abominable” and “problematic” text. Actor and director Yvan Attal returned this Saturday, January 20 in the show “Quelle époque! » on his support for Gérard Depardieu in an article published on December 25 in Le Figaro.
He notably recalled having “explained” the reasons for his signing this text which he found “abominable”. The actor insisted on the fact that he had immediately informed the author of the text, Yannis Ezziadi, of his desire to rewrite it before publication, as soon as he was contacted to sign this petition.
🗣️ “It’s not because he is a sacred monster of cinema that he could not benefit from justice like everyone else”
👉 Yvan Attal explains the reasons for maintaining his signature in the petition in support of Gérard Depardieu
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“There is a presumption of innocence”
Yvan Attal returned to the France 2 set on the written text and his deep disagreements over the choice of words in this petition. “I think it’s turned upside down. It is not because Gérard Depardieu is a sacred monster of cinema that he should benefit from impunity. On the contrary,” underlined the 59-year-old actor and director.
“It is not because he is a sacred monster of cinema that he could not benefit from ordinary justice like an ordinary citizen, like everyone else. (…) There is a presumption of innocence,” he insisted on defending. Other signatories of the platform, such as Jacques Weber, Carole Bouquet or Pierre Richard, withdrew their signature from the text in the following days.
Yannis Ezziadi “did not want to rewrite what I suggested he rewrite,” said Yvan Attal. But when he asked him if he maintained his signature, he did not hesitate: “I don’t know what came over me, I said: Yes I sign “. “I admit, stupidly, it was at the height of my exasperation, of this lynching that I had been witnessing for months. (…) All that was driving me crazy, so I wanted to sign anyway,” he summarized to Léa Salamé.
“I did not realize how problematic this text was. It’s a mistake, I admit it. When I saw that I had hurt people, I called BFMTV (…) to explain,” he concluded. On the set of the continuous news channel on December 28, the director of the film “Un Coup des Dés” then wanted to clarify the content of his support for this petition: “I do not agree that he could benefit from total impunity. If this column says that and if some people have read that, then I completely reject it. »