Catherine Deneuve, the French actress, hit out against the #MeToo campaign and its French equivalent #BalanceTonProc, that began in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, saying that it has enabled a culture of witch-hunting men and creating an environment of 'puritanical ... wave of purification'.
In an open letter, Deneuve said that: “Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not – nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack,” said the letter published in the newspaper Le Monde.
“Men have been punished summarily, forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someone’s knee or try to steal a kiss,” said the letter, which was also signed by Catherine Millet, author of the explicit 2002 bestseller The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
Men had been dragged through the mud, they argued, for “talking about intimate subjects during professional dinners or for sending sexually charged messages to women who did not return their attentions”.
Reacting to the development, many Twitter users posted their reactions.
Catherine Deneuve might have very different opinions about harassment if she weren't an extraordinarily beautiful, very rich white woman living in a bubble of heightened privilege. And had some empathy.
— Colleen Doran (@ColleenDoran) January 9, 2018
Very disturbing statement by French actress Catherine Deneuve. Normalizing sexual harassment is dangerous and irresponsible. Shame on her and the people who supports this. You are part of the problem. #metoo #BalanceTonPorc
— Rim-Sarah Alouane (@RimSarah) January 10, 2018
I wrote this to ask whose “freedom to pester” Catherine Deneuve et al defend in their anti #MeToo letter https://t.co/ZHOXxNqBHc
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) January 13, 2018
#CatherineDeneuve and her pals are "defending sexual freedom, for which «the liberty to seduce and importune is essential»" and I'm honeslty just appalled. We are not against sexuality, we are against UNWANTED SEXUAL ADVANCES (that are NOT sexual freedom).
— Simona Schifano (@schifano_simona) January 9, 2018
Sorry #CatherineDeneuve, but when men “touch a knee, try to steal a kiss, speak about intimate things during a professional dinner or send messages that are sexually loaded to a woman who wasn't attracted to them” it is #sexualharassment. https://t.co/YynLnHZVzU
— Fred Page (@FredPageSF) January 10, 2018
#CatherineDeneuve and her friends are so right about #MeToo
— A.Krielen (@observator6857) January 9, 2018
A witchhunt started by a bunch of hypocrites who could have kept their pride and say "NO"( assault & rape are still a crime) but instead chose to f*ck their way to fame & fortune.
With #CatherineDeneuve 100%. Men should be equally afraid of women' tacit psychological games too.Stop this hypocritical exaggeration. #NotMe #Donotabuse #befair #outofhand pic.twitter.com/RLMiwYqVBA
— Sabine Bustros (@Sabustros) January 10, 2018
#catherinedeneuve
— Antonia (@Antonia15419251) January 10, 2018
Well done Ms Deneuve, somebody finally says something intelligent in public about the hypocricy of some women!
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