Actress apologizes to sex assault victims

PARIS - French film star Catherine Deneuve, who set off a worldwide feminist backlash for bashing the #MeToo movement, has apologized to victims of sexual assault, saying there was "nothing good" about harassment.

She was one of 100 prominent French women who signed an open letter last week defending men's freedom to "hit on" women, and inferring that women fondled on public transport should just get over it.

But the screen legend distanced herself "from certain signatories of the letter... who have distorted the spirit of the text by expanding upon it in the media," and apologized "to the victims of these hideous acts who might have felt offended by the letter".