Gerard Depardieu still doesn't understand all the fuss his recent toilet trouble onboard a delayed flight caused, insisting fellow passengers lied about his behaviour after the actor was banned from using the restroom.
The Green Card star tried to discreetly pee in a bottle when his plane to Ireland was delayed on the runway in his native France, but some urine spilled over onto the floor and Depardieu was asked to get off and board another jet as cleaners were called to mop up the mess.
But, speaking out for the first time about the toilet drama, the actor is adamant he was given no other choice because the flight attendant was so unreasonable when he politely asked to use the toilet.
Recalling the incident on Tuesday (13Sep11), during a satellite interview on U.S. newsman Anderson Cooper's new show, Depardieu explained, "I said, 'Please, Madam, can I go to the toilet?' She blocked the door with her foot and said, 'Sir, go back to your place (seat).' I was in my place and 30 seconds later, I said, 'Madam, I have a lot of pee... It's hurting me. I'm not sick, I'm not a terrorist, I just want to pee.' She said, 'No, go back to your place'.
"So I had a friend who had a bottle... so I took the bottle... and I pee (sic)! And it was so beautiful, you know, I was (relieved)... I'm not a monster, I'm just a man who wants to pee. Maybe she (attendant) was (having) a nervous breakdown then because I don't understand why she blocked the door... She yelled."
The drama escalated when the small plastic container began to overflow: "The bottle was too small... She (attendant) was crying. I said, 'Don't worry, I will clean, I will clean. It's nothing, it's just pee.'"
The toilet trouble became headline news - and Depardieu blames gossiping fellow passengers for spreading false rumours that he was drunk and belligerent.
He says, "Everybody was with (their) little cameras... and I saw (a plane) full of cameras and I don't (sic) know what was happening, I just pee (sic).
"You know, in France, you can become a journalist just like that: 'He was drunk! He pee (sic)! He showed the dickie (penis)!'"
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