On 20 December, during a 135-minute-long interview on French television, dedicated to topics such as the new law on immigration, the future bill on assisted dying, the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict, Emmanuel Macron was asked about Gérard Depardieu. France’s president could have chosen to be cautious and not comment on a case that has divided France. It would probably have been wiser to have remained silent, but Macron doesn’t do caution; he speaks his mind.
“You will never see me taking part in a manhunt,” he said. As for stripping the actor of the Légion d’honneur, a procedure recently started by his culture minister Rima Abdul Malak, Macron replied, looking straight at the interviewer: “The order of the Légion d’honneur is not a moral order.” His culture minister had “got ahead of herself”. Macron talked about his admiration for the actor, adding that Depardieu had “made France proud”. The backlash was immediate.
