"The actor said he was not the 'vulgar, rude, trashy person who makes fun of people' that he had been portrayed as in the media."

"I respect people. I like to help people,' he told the court in March. But he also said he was from a different generation and that his flamboyant, bombastic and unapologetic personality was ill suited for the current era...."

From "Gérard Depardieu Convicted of Sexual Assault/The French actor was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021. He was given a suspended sentence of 18 months" (NYT).

How long ago was that other era when men could be flamboyant, bombastic and unapologetic? Depardieu is 76.

"Gérard Depardieu is probably the greatest of all actors.... When people attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, they are attacking art... France owes him so much."

A quote from the letter described in "Gérard Depardieu: dozens of celebrities denounce ‘lynching’ of French actor/Signatories of open letter include Charlotte Rampling, Carole Bouquet, and former French first lady and singer Carla Bruni" (The Guardian)("Depardieu, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was charged with rape in 2020 and has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than a dozen women").

"In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10am, then again champagne."

"Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine. In the afternoon, champagne, beer and more pastis at around 5pm, to finish off the bottle. Later on, vodka and/or whisky. But I’m never totally drunk, just a little p*****d. All you need is a 10-minute nap and voila, a slurp of rose wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy. Anyway, I’m not going to die. Not now. I still have energy."

Boasts Gerard Depardieu, who is 65, has had a quintuple bypass, and — tellingly — owns a vineyard.