Catherine Deneuve Responds to ''Nasty'' Charlie Hebdo Cover Spoofing the French Screen Icon

Find out what the Belle du Jour star said about the satirical mag's unflattering cartoon

By Natalie Finn May 13, 2015 8:59 PMTags
Catherine Deneuve, CannesGeorge Pimentel/WireImage

Charlie Hebdo is of course known for cutting iconic symbols down to size on their provocative covers. And Catherine Deneuve is nothing if not a person you automatically think of when you consider the storied history of French cinema.

Put those two facts together and the embattled satirical magazine's latest cover, featuring a cartoon poking fun at the now 71-year-old screen siren's weight (as well as paparazzi and the Cannes Film Festival itself), was sure to raise more than a few eyebrows along the Croisette and beyond.

The cover features the caption "Colis Suspect Sur La Croisette" (suspicious package on the Croisette) and a cartoon image of a hefty Deneuve after she's sent photographers scrambling, and maybe crushed a few, on the red carpet. A tuxedoed man stands behind the velvet rope yelling the equivalent of "false alarm, it's just Catherine Deneuve!"

Charlie Hebdo

"I hope it's funny, even if it is nasty," Deneuve cooly replied when asked about the cover during a photo call for her new film premiering at Cannes, La Tête Haute (Standing Tall), per The Hollywood Reporter. She also said she couldn't expect Charlie Hebdo's cover to be "like a fashion magazine."

It sounds as though the Vogue favorite's exchange with reporters got more heated when Deneuve shared her pointed opinion about social media, having come under fire for saying she noticed a "sadness" in the French town of Dunkerque, where Standing Tall was shot.

 "Social networks have blown it out of proportion," the Belle du Jour star said. "I am entitled to my thoughts. I don't think one negative sentence about Dunkerque, out of context, means I have to justify myself."

She was also asked about a recent interview with Journal du Dimanche, in which she said that "there are no longer any stars in France." (And on the topic of selfies? She "detests" them.)

"It's the social networks that prevent people from dreaming any more about stars," Deneuve told reporters today. "Their private life is displayed constantly on social networks; and some even post private pictures of themselves. I find it a pity. Being a star entails glamour and secrecy; it's hard to keep any degree of mystery nowadays."