The ceremony announcing the winners of this year's Cesar Awards, France's equivalent of the Oscars, included a loud cry for culture in the age of the coronavirus, with one actor stripping naked onstage to make a statement about the continued closure of cinemas and theaters.
Corinne Masiero came onstage Friday night to present the best costume award wearing a donkey suit and tampons as earrings.
"Is that too trash?" Masiero asked the socially distanced audience before removing the donkey costume to reveal what looked like a blood-soaked dress and announcing "I have a last one."
Masiero, 57, the offbeat star of popular detective series "Capitaine Marleau," then took off the dress and exposed messages written on her body. The words on her front read, "No culture, no future." The message on her back was addressed to French Prime Minister Jean Castex: "Give us back art, Jean."
The audience applauded, but some commenters on social media denounced what they said was a descent into vulgarity at the 46th Cesar Awards.
The #MeToo movement roused last year's ceremony, where famed director Roman Polanski received best director award for "An Officer and a Spy" amid protests by women's groups and some boos and walkouts.
Polanski, who did not attend the event, is wanted in the United States decades after being charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor but fled the U.S. In 2019, a woman accused Polanski of raping her in 1975 in his Swiss chalet when she was 18. Polanski denied the allegations.
Most of the political views expressed this year were about reviving France's dormant cultural scene. Part-time actors are currently occupying several theaters around France, including Paris' famed Odeon Theater, to demand more government help.
Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot was the subject of numerous jokes. The ceremony's the emcee, actor and comedian Marina Fois, noted the minister's planned book containing recipes, "little comforting things to get through this crisis."
"I'm losing confidence in you," Fois said, holding a plastic bag representing dog feces. The minister's entourage said the book, "La Vie en Rose," will not be coming out, according to French media reports.
As for the awards themselves, one film, "Adieu les Cons" ("Bye Bye Morons"), the madcap adventure of a dying hairdresser looking for the child she gave up at age15, scooped up seven awards, including best film and best director for Albert Dupontel. The best actor award went to Sami Bouajila for "Fils" ("Son") and Laure Calamy was chosen best actress for her performance in ""My Donkey, My Lover, and I."
Jean-Pascal Zadi, who was named most promising actor for his role in "Tout simplement noir" ("Simply Black"), promoted equality in his thank you speech. Fourteen-year-old Fathia Youssouff, chosen most promising actress for "Mignonnes" ("Cuties"), told aspiring youth to follow their dreams.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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