Gérard Depardieu faces medal suspension over controversial remarks

Rima Abdul Malak, the French Minister of Culture, informed France 5 TV that she had contacted the commission of the "great chancellery" - the entity responsible for conferring the Legion of Honor Medal, the highest honor in France. She intends to launch disciplinary proceedings to ascertain whether the medal should be suspended or entirely taken away from actor Gérard Depardieu.

Abdul Malak asserted her "disgust" for comments made by Depardieu while he was traveling through North Korea in 2018. These remarks were aired in early December along with the TV documentary "Complement d'Enquete".

- Shocking remarks... a disgrace to France, stated the head of the French Ministry of Culture. In the recent past, Gérard Depardieu has been repeatedly accused of sexism and cases of sexual violence have been linked to him. In March 2022, a Paris court declared the continuation of the investigation into his case after actress Charlotte Arnould accused him of rape.

In an October letter to the French newspaper "Le Figaro", Depardieu categorically denied committing such actions. "I have never, in any manner, molested a woman," the actor wrote.

This Wednesday, Francois Legault, the Prime Minister of Quebec, a province in Canada, announced that Gérard Depardieu will be deprived of the highest honor he received in 2002, as well as his title of Knight of the Order of Quebec.

"Gérard Depardieu's scandalous on-camera remarks have appalled the global audience, and rightly so. His conduct tarnishes the esteemed reputation of the Order of Quebec (l'Ordre national du Québec) awardees. As a result, I have decided to remove him from our honoree list, an action that takes immediate effect," Legault remarked in his statement.

This is an unprecedented occurrence, as it's the first time the highest Quebec honor, given since 1984, has been revoked. The statement stressed that the video footage shows Depardieu's behavior, which is unequivocally inconsistent with the values of the Order, whose creed is "Respect for the nation of Quebec".

The actions taken by the Order's Chapter and the Quebec Prime Minister follow the release of Depardieu's sexist comments towards women by the French TV station, France 2. His suggestive gestures and remarks about his virility and women on horseback have also provoked indignation.