Well this is quite the backtrack.
Last week, French star Catherine Deneuve shocked many when she signed a public letter SLAMMING the #MeToo movement, which labeled the anti-harassment campaign a “witch hunt” against men. After quite a bit of backlash for her backwards stance, the 74-year-old has since responded to her critics and apologized to victims of “odious acts.”
Related: Eliza Dushku’s On-Set Legal Guardian Corroborates Molestation Claims
On Monday, Deneuve released a personal statement in the national newspaper Liberation. In an attempt to downplay the controversy, she wrote:
“I have been an actress since I was 17 years old. I could obviously say that I’ve often been a witness of situations that were more than indelicate, or some that I know from other actresses about filmmakers who cravenly abused their power… What creates situations that are traumatizing and unbearable is always the power, the subordination or some sort of overpowering. The trap occurs when it becomes impossible to say no without risking one’s job, or being subjected to humiliations and degrading sarcasm.”
Okay, solid start. Catherine went on to suggest that a solution to this problem would arise if we better educated “our boys as well as our girls.” We concur.
However, the film icon didn’t completely walk back her support, as she stood by the letter’s criticism of the media’s role in the movement. She continued:
“I don’t like this aspect of our times where each feels the right to judge, arbitrate, condemn ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ a society where simple denunciations on social networks lead to punishment, job losses and often lynching in the media.”
Catherine also refused to endorse some of the women who signed the public letter. Specifically, Deneuve took an issue with Brigitte Lahaie, who claimed during a TV interview that a woman could have an orgasm during a rape. On that claim, the Belle de Jour actress stated:
“…saying on a TV channel that one can have an orgasm during a rape is worse than spitting on the face of all those women who have been victim of this crime.”
Intense stuff. Catherine didn’t stop there though, as she added:
“Nothing in the letter pretends that harassment has some good, otherwise I would not have signed it.”
And for those who accused her of being anti-feminist, Deneuve reminded her haters that she was “one of the 343 sluts” who signed a manifesto admitting to having an abortion when it was still illegal in France.
Deneuve concluded:
“I am a free woman and I’ll always be. I salute fraternally all the victims of odious acts who may have been offended by this public letter published in Le Monde. It is to them and them only that I present my apologies.”
What do YOU think?? Do you accept her apology??
SOUND OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via Patricia Schlein/WENN.]
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