Cannes chief addresses claim that the event is “a festival for rapists”
Thierry Fremaux, the chief of the Cannes Film Festival, has addressed the comments of actor Adele Haenel in which she spoke out against the actions of the French movie festival.
In an open letter, Haenel, who hasn’t returned to acting after appearing in Céline Sciamma’s 2019 Palme d’Or nominee Portrait of a Lady on Fire, stated: “I’ve decided to politicize my retreat from the film industry to denounce its generalized complacency toward sexual aggressors…they all join hands to save the face of [Gérard] Depardieu, [Roman] Pokanski and [Dominique] Boutonnat. It unnerves them and disturbs them that victims make too much noise; they would prefer it if we continued to disappear and die in silence. They’re ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs, those who are so rich that they believe they belong to a superior species, those who make a show of this superiority by… objectifying women and subordinates”.
In response, Fremaux told a recent press conference that Haenel’s comments were “false,” adding: “She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she suffered from a crazy dissonance…People use Cannes to talk about certain issues and it’s normal because we give them a platform”.
Continuing, Fremaux directly addressed the present news outlets, explaining: “But if you thought that it’s a festival for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can’t get tickets to get into screenings”.
This wasn’t the only piece of controversy he addressed either, with Fremaux also commenting on the inclusion of Maiwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, who took part in a public defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022.
“I don’t know about the image of Johnny Depp in the US. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, it’s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework,” Fremaux stated: “If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldn’t be here talking about it. So we saw Maiwenn’s film, and it could have been in competition…I don’t know why she chose him, but it’s a question you should ask Maiwenn”.
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