With the July 5 opening of the Avignon Festival fast approaching, organizers would have likely preferred to avoid artistic preparations colliding with a judicial case. On Friday, June 13, Pierre Gendronneau, the deputy director of the event, will leave the position he has held since February 2023 at the side of director Tiago Rodrigues. His departure, first reported by Télérama on Wednesday, April 30, stems from accusations against him of sexist and sexual violence and harassment.

The accusations come as the Avignon Festival has taken measures to prevent sexist and sexual violence and harassment, a set of improper behaviors and actions sometimes referred to in France by the abbreviation VHSS. "We conduct training aimed at providing everyone with the same criteria to know what the rules of communal living are," explained Eve Lombart, the event's administrator. "The variety of backgrounds, ages, and origins of people can lead to differing levels of tolerance. However, returning to the definitions of VHSS, stating that there is no tolerance within the organization, and integrating teams with the presence of referents provide a rigorous, even severe, framework for assessing situations."

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