The “war” of rushes continues and the advantage taken by Gérard Depardieu is confirmed. The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the decision rendered last May, accompanying it with several points clearly in the actor’s favor. Remember that at the time, by order, the court ruled in favor of Depardieu, ordering Hikari Productions to communicate the famous disputed tapes. These recordings were used to produce an episode of Complément d’investigation broadcast in December 2023 on France 2, where the actor appeared in scenes where he made particularly ribald remarks, multiplying obscenities against women.
Since the start of this affair, it is above all the shocking remarks that the star seems to have made towards a little girl riding a horse in a stud farm which have sparked controversy. “If he ever gallops, she cums. That’s good, my girl, continue. You see, she’s scratching there”could we hear from Depardieu’s mouth, as the child appeared on the screen. However, although the actor’s voice is recognizable in this sequence, he himself does not appear in the image at that moment. It is precisely on this point that the conflict between the parties crystallizes. Contesting the veracity of the montage from the start, the actor and his lawyer had taken Hikari Productions and France Télévisions before the Paris judicial court, denouncing a fraudulent montage.
By ruling out the application of possible secrecy of the sources, the court finally recognized, last May, the crucial importance of the rushes, thus ordering Hikari to return them. However, the production company appealed this decision. New twist in this case, since, after examination, the Court of Appeal has just delivered its verdict. The judgment clearly wins the case for Gérard Depardieu. According to a document of around twenty pages, to which the JDD had access, it is notably a question of the appointment of an expert, Me Christian Ardan, who will have to carefully examine the content of the rushes as well as the conditions in which the editing was carried out. been carried out. In other words, Hikari will indeed have to deliver these precious tapes recorded in 2018 to North Korea.
In several meticulously detailed points, the conclusions indicate in particular that the expert must “carry out a comparative analysis of the rushes provided by the Hikari company and the sequence of the stud farm integrated into the documentary”in order to determine “if the remarks made in this sequence correspond in time and images to those actually spoken during the recordings”. Master Christian Ardan must also “precisely describe all the editing operations carried out using the recordings of the stud sequence”. The answers to the questions raised for almost a year will not take long to arrive, because, after having examined all the elements transmitted to him, the expert will have to submit his report to the registry of the Paris judicial court before April 30, 2025.
These rushes must still be returned one day… Indeed, as the JDD revealed this week, the three protagonists behind the editing of the show, at Hikari, seem to be unaware of where these recordings are. According to the minutes that we were able to consult, neither the company’s boss, Anthony Dufour, nor its director, Damien Fleurette, nor the editor, Emmanuel Baert, seem to know precisely where they were stored. On their premises? At France Télévisions? Or have they been lost? The answers required by justice may be difficult to obtain. Especially since, as we revealed, no camera seemed focused on Depardieu at the time of the controversial sequence.
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At the same time, and this is perhaps one of the turning points in this affair, France Télévisions was also ordered to communicate to Gérard Depardieu the report of the findings that it said it had produced. This document was produced in response to our investigation at the time, with the aim of trying to put an end to the controversy. As a reminder, the public service group then claimed to have had the images from Complément d’investigation authenticated, thus supporting the initial thesis according to which Depardieu had made inappropriate comments towards the little girl. France Télévisions must now comply with this transparency obligation within eight days of notification of the judgment rendered. Failing this, the court decision specifies that France Télévisions “will be required to pay a penalty of 1,500 euros per day of delay”. The countdown is on.
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