Depp is the least of gala’s problems

The claim that Cannes is a ‘festival for rapists’ has set the tone for the star’s comeback.

Johnny Depp at the premiere of Jeanne du Barry in Cannes, France. Picture: WireImage

The 76th Cannes Film Festival has begun amid controversy, opening with Johnny Depp’s first big film since the conclusion of his legal battles with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

Thierry Fremaux, the event’s director, was forced to reject claims that it was a “festival for rapists” after the French actress Adele Haenel wrote an open letter denouncing the leaders of the film industry.

The star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which won prizes at the festival in 2019, announced that she was leaving the acting profession and accused Cannes of being “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs”.

The costume drama Jeanne du Barry is Depp’s first leading role in three years, after he was fired from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, a Harry Potter spin-off, following Heard’s accusations of sexual assault.

French actress director Maiwenn, Johnny Depp and French actor Pierre Richard arrive for the opening ceremony and the screening of the film Jeanne du Barry during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Picture: AFP

Depp lost a 2020 libel case in the UK against the publisher of The Sun newspaper after Heard testified to support the newspaper in defence of its publication of a story in which Depp was described as a “wife beater”. He then won a separate libel case in the United States last year, when he sued Heard for the publication of similar allegations.

Depp denies the allegations of abuse and has not been accused of rape. His latest film, about the daughter of a seamstress who became Louis XV’s last official mistress, was described by the French newspaper Le Parisien as the actor’s “redemption”.

Haenel, a leader of the #MeToo movement in France, walked out of the Cesars, the French equivalent of the Oscars, in 2020 when Roman Polanski, who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, was presented with three awards.

In her letter, she attacked the industry for protecting men such as Polanski as well as Gerard Depardieu, who is under investigation for rape and is accused by multiple women of assault, and Dominique Boutonnat, head of the National Centre for Cinema, who will go on trial facing charges that he sexually assaulted his godson.

Film-makers have continued to hire Depardieu, and Boutonnat has been reappointed for three years. The men deny the claims.

Haenel wrote: “It bothers them that victims make too much noise; they would prefer that we disappear and die in silence.”

Fremaux said her comments were “false” and “radical”. He added: “People use Cannes to talk about certain issues and it’s normal because we give them a platform. If there is anyone in the world who is not interested in this ... trial, it is me. I don’t know what it is about. I am interested in Depp as an actor.

“If you thought that it’s a festival for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining you can’t get tickets to screenings.”

Maiwenn, who directed and stars in Jeanne du Barry, said that it would “pain” her if the “radical feminist movement” tried to “spoil the party”. She said casting began before Depp’s first trial.

Michael Douglas arrives with his wife and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and daughter Carys for the screening of Jeanne du Barry. Picture: AFP

Maiwenn is herself being investigated by prosecutors. Edwy Plenel, the former editor of Le Monde, who runs the investigative news site Mediapart, said he was dining at a restaurant in Paris in late February when Maiwenn, who was sitting alone at another table, approached him, tilted his head back and spat in his face. On a talk show last week Maiwenn admitted attacking Plenel, whose website published a story in which several women had accused her ex-husband, Luc Besson, the director, of sexual misconduct. Besson, who denied the claims, had rape charges against him dismissed.

At the opening night ceremony Michael Douglas received an honorary Palme d’Or , accompanied by his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas.

Catherine Deneuve paid homage to Ukraine by quoting the poet Lesya Oukrainka, before declaring the festival officially open.

Also having a premiere at Cannes is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

A ban on public demonstrations has been put in place on the public highway for the duration of the event, which runs until May 27, after unions promised to make their presence felt in protest against France’s pension reforms.

The Times