When Johnny Depp appeared on the red carpet at the Cannes film festival this week it was clear France was doing more than any other nation to rehabilitate the actor after he was dropped by US film studios during two trials over alleged domestic abuse.
Feminist groups and more than 100 French actors spoke out to criticise the festival, saying Depp’s star appearance symbolised a wider problem of the French establishment protecting men who have been accused by women. “We are deeply outraged and refuse to remain silent in the face of the toxic politics espoused by the Cannes film festival,” actors said in an open-letter published in Libération.
