French director controversy over ‘women aged 50’ quip

Mr Moix, aged 50 himself, made the statements in an interview with magazine Marie-Claire, published on January 4.

He said: “I am telling you the truth. Aged 50 [myself], I am incapable of loving women aged 50. I think that’s too old. When I am 60 years old, I will be able to; 50 will then appear young to me.”

He continued: “It doesn’t disgust me, it just wouldn’t occur to me. [Women aged 50] are invisible to me. I prefer younger women’s bodies, that’s all.”

He also said that he only goes out with Asians, specifying “Koreans, Chinese, Japanese”, adding: “Many people would not admit that, as it is racial bias. Maybe that is sad for the women I go out with, but the Asian race is rich, large and infinite enough, that I do not feel embarrassed."

His comments have caused controversy on social media.

Journalist and author Mona Chollet said: “Yann Moix is a sad man, confirmation in Marie-Claire.”

Some users wrote ironically on “Yann Moix's point of view on women's expiry date", and others said that he had “ensured a cleaned-out [love] life for a while”, with no women “rushing to queue up to be ‘used’ by him”.

Others have been posting images of high-profile 50-year-old women - such as Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Aniston and Sophie Marceau - alongside messages such as "what a pity for you", subtly questioning Mr Moix's opinion.