Pathetic. “Pathetic,†you say? It is, indeed, pathetic.
I was born in 1948. I began working at 14 as a printer, a warehouse worker and then as a dramatic artist. I always paid my taxes, whatever the rate, under whatever government was in place.
I have never shirked my responsibilities. The historic films that I played in attest to my love of France and her history.
People more illustrious than me have gone into [tax] exile or left our country.
I unfortunately have nothing else to do here. But I will continue to love the French and this viewing public with whom I have shared so much emotion! I am leaving because you believe success, creativity, anything different, to be grounds for sanction.
I don't seek approval, but I wish, at least, to be respected.
No one who has left France has been insulted in the manner I have.
I do not have to justify my choice. My reasons are plentiful and personal.
I am leaving, after paying a ta x rate of 85 percent on my 2012 income. But I am keeping the spirit of this France that was so beautiful and that I hope will always be.
I relinquish my passport and my Social Security, which I have never claimed. We no longer share a homeland. I am a true European, a citizen of the world, as my father always instilled in me.
What I call pathetic are the judicial excesses leveled at my son Guillaume â€" sentenced as a mere boy to three years of hard time for two grams of heroin, when so many others did no time for crimes far more serious.
I don't condemn those who have high cholesterol or high blood pressure or diabetes or drink too much or those who fall asleep on their scooter. I am one of them, as your cherished media so love to remind us.
I have never killed anyone. I do not believe I have been demeritorious. I paid 145 million euros in taxes over 45 years. I employed 80 people in companies that were created for them and that are managed by them.< /p>
I am to be neither pitied nor praised, but I reject the term “pathetic.â€
Who are you to so judge me, I ask you Mr. Ayrault, prime minister of Mr. Hollande. I ask, who are you? In spite of my excesses, my appetites and my love of life, I am a free man, Sir. And I shall remain respectful.
Gérard Depardieu
Translated from the French in the Journal de Dimanche.
