Gérard Depardieu denies leaving France over tax

FilmFilm star Gérard Depardieu has denied that he is leaving his homeland for tax reasons, saying that he is still very much French, although he now has a Russian passport, reports The Guardian.

In an interview with sports channel L'Equipe 21 – his first since a row broke out in December over his decision to buy a house over the border in Belgium – Depardieu said that if he had wanted to leave to avoid tax rises, he would have gone earlier.

"I have a Russian passport, but I remain French and I will probably have dual Belgian nationality. But if I'd wanted to escape the taxman, as the French press say, I would have done it a long time ago," he said.

Depardieu was speaking in Zurich at the Ballon d'Or football awards ceremony after receiving a new Russian passport on Sunday from president Vladimir Putin.

Read more of this report from The Guardian.