The 77th Cannes Film Festival came to a successful conclusion a few days ago, but controversies surrounding certain sensitive topics are still lingering.

On May 29, local time, the editorial department of the French edition of Vanity Fair magazine officially apologized to the public for arbitrarily deleting and modifying the photos of the guests attending the conference. The person involved was Guy Pearce, a famous Australian actor who has starred in films such as Memento and The Hurt Locker.

On May 20, when he followed the crew of the Cannes main competition unit shortlisted film "Shroud" on the red carpet of the Film Palace, in order to show his personal stance, he deliberately wore a pin with the Palestinian flag on his chest and a bracelet with the colors of the Palestinian flag on his right hand. In the subsequent media interviews, Pierce did not take off the pin on his chest, but in the relevant photos published on the official website of the French "Vanity Fair" magazine, the Palestinian flag pin on his chest "disappeared".

A photoshopped photo of Guy Pearce (left) versus the original.

Later, the incident was discovered by sharp-eyed netizens and became a hot topic on social networks. As late as yesterday, the editorial department of the French edition of Vanity Fair finally couldn't stand the pressure and issued a statement on its social media account, saying that it had "mistakenly posted a modified version of the photo online" and apologized for it.

While the editorial department of Vanity Fair France apologized, it also emphasized that the photo of Guy Pearce published on its official social media account that day was not photoshopped, and the Palestinian flag brooch was clearly visible. In other words, on the same day, the official website of Vanity Fair France and its official social media account published different versions of the same photo. Vanity Fair did not specify the reason behind it, but on its official website, the original photoshopped photo has been replaced with the original photo with the Palestinian flag brooch, and a text caption "Correction made, sincere apology" is attached.

At this year's Cannes Film Festival, artistic director Thierry Frémaux emphasized that politics should be discussed as little as possible and art should be returned to itself. Therefore, there were basically no related protests during the entire film festival, and only a few filmmakers, such as Guy Pearce, publicly stood in support of the Palestinian side or the Israeli side. In addition, Pierce's fellow countryman Cate Blanchett chose the color of her red carpet dress to echo the color of the Palestinian flag, which can be regarded as expressing her position.

On May 20, 2024, local time, in Cannes, France, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett appeared at the premiere of "The Apprentice". Visual China Photo

Guy Pearce, 56, was born in the UK and grew up in Australia. In addition to his acting career, he has always been concerned about various environmental protection, animal protection, and charity. On his personal official website, you can see his heartfelt words about the values he upholds: "The meaning of life lies in fairness, justice and belonging. As long as I can do it, I will try my best to do it." After the PS photo incident was exposed, Pierce himself posted on the Internet: "As we speak, Palestinians are being killed. They are displaced, traumatized, and their lives are ruined. The lives and futures of Palestinian children are being destroyed by a vengeful tyrant. He must be stopped! This must be stopped! Netanyahu, you are shameful!"

Guy Pearce expressed his support for animal protection on his official website