"Men are afraid of having lawsuits against them even when they haven't done anything." Through these words, Yannis Ezziadi burst onto French TV screens the day after Christmas to explain why he had written an open letter to defend Gérard Depardieu, who is charged with rape and sexual assault. A little-known actor, Ezziadi, who found over 50 celebrities to sign his letter with him, had connections with Eric Zemmour during the far-right polemicists's unsuccessful presidential campaign.
Three days after the publication of his letter in the conservative newspaper Le Figaro, Ezziadi deleted his Instagram account, on which he was in the habit of posting images of himself meeting with culture and media figures. He told Le Monde that he "prefers to stop talking."
His journey is something of a snapshot of the times. Normally, the 32-year-old actor is seen in the crowd at the Molières theater award ceremony or on TV channels belonging to the highly conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré's holding company: His defense of bullfighting earned him several invitations to appear on the channels CNews and C8. But on December 26, it was on BFM-TV, a more mainstream news channel, that he justified the open letter he wrote, a plea entitled "Don't erase Depardieu," in an allusion to "cancel culture."
A friend of French theater figures Michel Fau and Jean-Marie Besset, Ezziadi had just pulled off one of the most formidable seduction operations of the reactionary sphere within the world of culture, which is a traditionally left-wing bastion. Ezziadi brought together under his name such luminaries of French cinema, theater and entertainment as director Bertrand Blier; actors Nathalie Baye, Carole Bouquet, Charlotte Rampling, Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacques Weber and Pierre Richard; and singers Roberto Alagna, Carla Bruni and Jacques Dutronc. What was previously unreported is that Ezziadi is close to Sarah Knafo, Zemmour's main adviser and partner. Asked for comment, Knafo said Ezziadi is "an excellent boy."
On March 27, 2022, Ezziadi attended the reception organized for the happy few of Zemmour's campaign under the Alexandre-III bridge, following a final rally at the Trocadéro in Paris. That day, supporters of the far-right candidate had filled the huge square in front of the Eiffel Tower and shouted "Macron, assassin!" without arousing any reaction from Zemmour, who claimed not to have heard. Ezziadi had played no role in the campaign, said Knafo. But he did, however, speak with Zemmour at length on the subject of culture in an interview published the day before the rally in the reactionary magazine Causeur.
You have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.