Journalist speaks up after being spat on by Johnny Depp’s Cannes director Maïwenn
The journalist who was sexually assaulted by French director/actress Maïwenn earlier this year has spoken out publicly about the incident for the first time.
Maïwenn’s latest film Jeanne du BarryThe controversial Cannes Film Festival opens today (May 16) with Johnny Depp in the leading role.
It’s Depp’s first starring role since his high-profile libel trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard last year.
media part The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edwy Plenel, filed a police complaint on March 7 accusing Maïwenn of spitting on him while he was eating in a restaurant.
Speak with diversityPlenel said he believes the filmmaker’s alleged actions stemmed from his publication’s coverage of the rape and sexual assault allegations against Luc Besson. Maïwenn married the Leon: The professional Director when she was 16 years old. The two divorced in 1997.
“It was about five years [ago]” Plenel said of her investigation, which included allegations by nine women against Besson. “That would mean that Maïwenn wanted revenge all along. But if that’s the case, then why didn’t she send an email? [We] I haven’t even gotten a call from her.”
Johnny Depp and Maïwenn attend the red carpet screening and opening ceremony of ‘Jeanne du Barry’ at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival
(Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
He continued: “I don’t know Maïwenn, I’ve never met her. I couldn’t have recognized her.
“This aggression caused more drowsiness than anything else. She didn’t attack me individually, but the symbol I represent as the founder and director of a magazine that has been at the center of all #MeToo revelations in France.
“She is staunchly against #MeToo and made a gesture to please her world and that’s why she bragged about it on TV. We could see a kind of pride that reflected that world.”
The Independent has asked Maïwenn’s lawyer for comment.
Maïwenn admitted the attack during an appearance on the French talk show Quotidia earlier this month.
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“I have not received any complaint. I found out about it through the press,” the director said of Plenel’s police complaint.
Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry
(Le Pace)
“And did you attack him?” moderator Yann Barthès asked.
“Yes,” she replied, laughing while refraining from explaining why.
“Nice try, but it’s not the right time for me to talk about it. I’ll talk about it when the moment is right. I’m really looking forward to the launch of my film,” she said.
Maïwenn also plays along Jeanne du Barry, It tells the story of King Louis XV’s mistress, Jeanne Vaubernier.
This week, Cannes judge Brie Larson was stunned when a journalist asked her for her thoughts on the festival’s opening film.
Depp has not been cast in a major US film since his lawsuit against him in 2018 The sun, He lost that after a British court ruled the tabloid’s description of him as a “wife beater” was “essentially true”.
