Cannes slammed for honoring actor Alan Delon after he publicly admitted to slapping women
Cannes Film Festival is being slammed for honoring actor Alan Delon despite the veteran actor's questionable comments about slapping women and homophobic statements where he has said that he opposes child adoption by same-sex parents. The actor has been criticized by US organization Women and Hollywood but it looks like Cannes is going ahead with it anyway.
Melissa Silverstein, the founder of the organization reportedly said that the actor "has publicly admitted to slapping women. He has aligned himself with the racist and anti-Semitic National Front. He has claimed that being gay is ‘against nature.’ The Cannes Film Festival has committed itself to diversity and inclusion. By honoring Mr. Delon, Cannes is honoring these abhorrent values.”
"I can only speculate that some people feel fatigued about these issues, and he hasn’t been technically accused of anything,” she said. “But I don’t think you have to be accused of something if you’ve espoused these type of sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views. I don’t think a person like that should be honored. If you do a quick Google search, you can understand who this person is,” she said. “I just don’t think people care, and that’s sad," she said.
Cannes reportedly told Variety that it was "honoring Delon because he is a legendary actor and part of Cannes history, as we did for Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, and Agnès Varda. After Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Pierre Léaud, it seemed crucial for us to celebrate the iconic actor Alain Delon." However, they did not comment on the controversial statements he's made.
The actor went on television in 2015 and spoke about how he was having a "hard time" seeing kids get adopted by same-sex couples. "I’m not against gay marriage, I could care less, but I’m against the adoption of children [by same-sex parents]….I’m having a hard time living through this epoch where we trivialize what’s against nature," he had reportedly said.
As for Cannes, this backlash follows the one it went through last year for not including women directors in its honor ranks.
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