The French actress Catherine Deneuve is one of about 100 female writers, performers and academics who have put their names to an open letter denouncing the "puritanism" they claim has emerged in the wake of the recent sexual harassment scandals.

The letter, published in Le Monde, also condemns the denunciations, which followed allegations of rape and sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, as a "witch hunt", and claims that men should be allowed "to hit on women".

“Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not – nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack,” the letter, which has also been signed by Catherine Millet, author of the 2002 bestseller The Sexual Life of Catherine M, says. “Men have been punished summarily, forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someone’s knee or try to steal a kiss.”

The letter also criticises social media campaigns, such as #MeToo, for unleashing a “puritanical [...] wave of purification”.