Remi Gaillard accused of promoting rape culture

French comedian Rémi Gaillard has been criticised for glorifying ‘rape culture’ for a video showing him faking sex with women in the street.

Almost 4 million viewers have seen the Free Sex clip, which he uses perspective to make it appear as if he’s having sex with the unsuspecting victims, in just over three days.

But the footage has been widely condemned, and YouTube restricted viewers to over-18s only.

Columnist Dom Bochel Guégan wrote in Nouvel Observateur magazine: ‘It is a trivialisation of the sexual violence of which we have been or will be one day the victim of.’

Feminist writer Daria Marx said on her blog: ‘Oh I hear you scream. Miming fellatio is not violence. It is to get a laugh.... and feminists have no sense of humour.’

But she adds that the video reinforces the idea that the street is a space reserved for men, adding satcastically: ‘It's funny to be insulted, to be watched, to be stared at, to hear comments that our breasts are too small or too big... our potential capacity as good whores, all this in the 400 meters between your house and getting tobacco. So funny.’

Gaillard, however, says he did not expect the controversy, adding that the number of viewers speak for itself.

He wrote on his Facebook page that all the women featured on the video gave their permission for it to be distributed, and said: ‘Please, therefore, leave these women the right to think, the right to dispose of their image as they see fit. Please respect their free will, their freedom, their humor and their joie de vivre.’

Criticising media coverage of the outrage he added that: ‘Is that all women are forced to take offence? Is that some have, anyway, the right to laugh?’ – and says none of the articles mention the scene when he fakes sex with a policeman as it wouldn’t fit their ‘violence against women’ agenda.

But he later apologised if he had caused offence, although qualified that by saying there are much worse videos online the media should worked up about.

Here is his video:

Published: 1 Apr 2014