PARIS: Hollywood actress Diane Kruger said that the #MeToo movement had scared powerful men but she was afraid that change may be short-lived.
The German-born star, who won best actress in May at the Cannes film festival for “In the Fade” — which is hotly tipped for a best foreign movie Oscar nomination — told French television that she has never been paid as much as her male co-stars.
Yet she insisted that lasting change was only possible with men’s help.
Kruger said the progress made on harassment since the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal shook Hollywood might be illusory if the culture did not change with it.
“For now it is changing because men are scared,” said the actress. “Every day there is someone new who is denounced (as an abuser),” she told BFMTV. “However, I am afraid that in six months, or a year, or even 10 years we will be still hearing the same thing.”
“It has to stop — things have to change and everyone has to speak out so we can try to go forward, not only in terms of sexuality, but in the way we are paid.
“I have never been paid the same as the man I am playing opposite. That is not right,” she said. “We have got to be really vigilant, and women have to stick together for this cause.”
But Kruger, 41, said men needed to join with women if there is to be a real cultural change.
#MeToo movement scared powerful men, says Kruger
#MeToo movement scared powerful men, says Kruger
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
