The French actor sued France Télévisions and the show this Thursday Complément d'enquête before the Paris judicial court. He accuses the public service magazine of having broadcast a illicit and misleading assembly in the report entitled Gérard Depardieu: the fall of the ogre, broadcast on December 7, 2023 on France 2. In question, a controversial sequence filmed in North Korea in 2018, which he claims was manipulated to attribute to him sexualizing comments about a young girl.
A controversial sequence at the heart of the dispute
The heart of the dispute rests on a short sequence of approximately fifty seconds, taken from a trip made to North Korea on the occasion of the 70 years of the Kim Jong-un regime. Gérard Depardieu went there accompanied by the writer Yann Moix, at the initiative of the move. These images, filmed in a stud farm and produced by the company Hikari, show the actor observing a young horsewoman.
In the version broadcast by Complément d'enquête, Depardieu holds shameful remarks with sexual connotations while a little girl on horseback appears on the screen. For the France 2 journalists, there is no doubt that these remarks were aimed at the child. But the defense of Gérard Depardieu disputes this interpretation and denounces a deceptive editing intended to harm his honor.
The version by Gérard Depardieu and Yann Moix
The actor's lawyer, Mr. Jérémie Assous, argues that this sequence was deliberately taken out of contextAccording to him, Gérard Depardieu was actually addressing an adult woman, present off-screen, as part of an artistic project or a work of fiction in preparation. In this light, the comments made by the actor would have been integrated into an improvised dialogue with no connection to the young girl visible on the screen.
Yann Moix, who accompanied Depardieu on this trip, confirms this version. In an interview with Figaro in January 2024, he states: "I was there at the time. Gérard was talking about an adult woman, not a child. This connection between the images and his words is a fake." For the defense, this fraudulent association between sound and image would have the effect of to make believe wrongly that the actor was sexualizing a minor, which, according to them, constitutes serious audiovisual manipulation.
France Télévisions denies any accusations of rigging
For its part, France Télévisions categorically denies having carried out a illegal assemblyThe group's lawyer, Me Juliette Félix, told AFP that "France Télévisions contests any illicit editing by Complément d'Enquête and reserves its observations for the court."The authors of the report maintain that their work faithfully reflects reality and that Gérard Depardieu's comments were well aimed the little girl filmed.
In order to consolidate its defense, the public audiovisual group has resorted to a bailiff authentication procedure. According to the report filed in the file, cited by Le Monde in March 2024, "There is no doubt or ambiguity that it is indeed the young girl in the image who is the target of Gérard Depardieu's comments."
Conflicting expert opinions and a tense legal climate
The case now rests on several technical expertiseIn May 2024, a first analysis added to the rape investigation file, revealed by Libération, concluded that "sexually suggestive remarks were made towards a girl riding a pony"This conclusion strengthens the position of France Télévisions.
However, Paris Court of Appeal ordered at the request of the defense a new independent expertiseThis must detail all the editing operations carried out and attempt to determine, as far as possible, to whom the disputed remarks were actually addressed. According to Me Jérémie Assous, a note from the expert would now confirm "firmly and definitively" that there was indeed illegal assembly. This document has not yet been made public, however.
A media and political controversy
Broadcast of the report Gérard Depardieu: the fall of the ogre in December 2023 had caused a strong media and political excitement. Besides the disputed sequence, the broadcast showed the actor holding misogynistic and degrading remarksShe also gave the floor to Charlotte Arnold, who accuses Gérard Depardieu of rape in 2018, as well as other women talking about sexual assault.
Following this broadcast, the Minister of Culture at the time, Rima Abdul Malak, had estimated that Gérard Depardieu was "shaming France". The president Emmanuel Macron, for his part, had defended him, declaring himself a "great admirer" of the comedian and denouncing the "manhunts", suggesting that the images could have been manipulated.
An actor under fire in multiple proceedings
This new complaint comes in an already difficult legal context. In the spring of 2025, Gérard Depardieu was sentenced to 18 months suspended prison sentence to sexual assault occurred during filming, a decision he made call. Furthermore, it has been referred to the criminal court of Paris to answer the accusations of rape formulated by Charlotte Arnould. Indicted since 2020, the actor strongly contests all the facts alleged.
A verdict expected by the end of the year
Le Paris Judicial Court will now have to decide on the question of illegal assemblyIf the courts were to recognize manipulation, France Télévisions could be condemned for violation of moral rights, defamation ou image damageOtherwise, the public service version would support the idea of a authentic sequence, likely to weaken the actor's defense in his other ongoing cases.
Judgment is awaited before the end of 2025, in a case where media, political and legal issues are mixed, illustrating once again the fall of a monument of French cinema.
What should we quickly remember?
The French actor sued France Télévisions and the program Complément d'enquête this Thursday before the Paris judicial court. He accuses the magazine
