French Actress and #MeToo Activist Judith Godrèche Slams Harvey Weinstein Conviction Reversal as an ‘Absolute Nightmare’ | Video
French cinema’s Judith Godrèche, a former child star-turned-filmmaker and prominent #MeToo activist, weighed in during Cannes Day 4 on the April 25 reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction in New York, slamming it as “an absolute nightmare.”
Speaking with TheWrap founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman on Thursday as part of TheWrap Conversations at the Brand Innovators Salon D’Affaires, Godrèche expressed sympathy for the women who may have to testify again if a new trial is held.
“It’s a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. I can’t even imagine,” Godrèche said. “Somehow people [like] him are winning. There is enough pain and hurt that it should not be allowed. It’s insane when you think about it. Listen, I may have to face my abusers [one day]. You have to be so brave to do this.”
She added: “I wondered how [Weinstein] had so much money to keep paying for lawyers. I thought, ‘Wow, this is crazy that he can keep going.’ It was terrible news. It was extremely shocking and I had a feeling of walking backwards.”
The message that the reversal sent is troubling for any victim of sexual assault, Godrèche, who directed the Cannes-premiering #MeToo short film “Moi Aussi,” explained.
“There’s a difference between saying, ‘Oh, we decided something went wrong,’ or ‘This wasn’t done the right way,'” Godrèche said. “So are you saying he’s not guilty? It’s the symbolism, because seeking for justice is such a long, long, long, long, long journey. And it’s not a given, it’s not a given.”
For “Moi Aussi,” Godrèche spoke to 1,000 victims of sexual abuse, many of whom are not in the film industry. The A24-backed short premiered as part of the opening ceremony of the Cannes Un Certain Regard portion of the festival on Wednesday, which features nontraditional films.
Earlier this year, Godrèche denounced French director Benoît Jacquot, who had an inappropriate relationship with her in the 1980s that started when she was 14 years old and he was 39.
“It took me almost 35 years to speak out,” she said. “It was a long journey, like a puzzle, I should say. I moved to America, I ran away from the French film industry. The story of this French woman going back to her country, an actress, could not be sincere and honest if I wasn’t telling some of my childhood, because I was a child actor. But I didn’t want it to become a #MeToo show, and I was worried about saying any names.”
Godrèche added that she is friends with Anita Hill, the lawyer who accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas — Hill’s former supervisor — of sexual harassment at his 1991 confirmation hearings.
“She sent me something she just wrote about the Harvey Weinstein, because I was one of the women who spoke out in the New York Times. I think there’s a really beautiful sorority and strength that can come from all over the world. If there’s anything good about what we went through, it’s the power of knowing you’re not alone,” Godrèche said.
Weinstein remains jailed in New York City and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said he will retry the case. The retrial is expected to be held as early as September.
Watch the clip from Godrèche’s TheWrap Conversations interview in the video above.
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