Johnny Depp Movie’s Director Admits to Assaulting Journalist

Director Maïwenn Lo Besco, Maïwenn, admits to physically assaulting a French journalist. Her new film Jeanne Du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, is opening the Cannes Film Festival. The admission came during a live French talk show called Quotidian. In April 2023, Edwy Plenel claimed Maïwenn assaulted him at a restaurant in February. Plenel is the editor-in-chief of Mediapart, an online investigative newspaper.

Per Variety, Maiwenn was sitting by herself at a nearby table and is alleged to have approached the Plenel and grabbed him by the hair before spitting in his face without warning or word. In a subsequent police report filed on March 7, Plenel said the ordeal was “damaging on a moral and psychological level” and left him feeling “very traumatized.”

During the Quotidian interview admission, Maïwenn said of the attack: “Do I confirm that I assaulted him? Yes. It’s not the time. I’ll speak about it when I’m ready. I’m very anxious about the release of my film.”

It was unclear what Maïwenn’s motivation for spitting on Plenel was. But The Wrap reports of speculation that Mediapart was reporting on the sexual assault allegations against French filmmaker Luc Besson, who is Maïwenn’s ex-husband. The former pair began dating when she was only 15; he was 30. Their child was born when Maïwenn was 16. 

Plenel has since accused Maïwenn of being against the #MeToo movement. “She’s outspokenly anti-#MeToo and she made a gesture to please her world, and that’s why she bragged about it on TV,” he said when speaking to Variety in his first interview since the assault. “We could see a sort of pride that echoed that world.”

Planel references Maïwenn’s comments made in 2020 saying that “It’s crazy how many stupidities they say these days! These women don’t like men, that’s clear, and they’re causing very serious collateral damage.” In that same interview, Maïwenn said, “When I hear women complaining that men are only interested in their bottom, I tell them, ‘Enjoy it because it won’t last!’”