Depardieu 'turning in his passport'

Gerard Depardieu may be working with the daughter of Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova (Getty Images)

The actor Gerard Depardieu is reported as saying he is turning in his passport after insults from the Socialist Prime Minister for taking up residence in Belgium for tax reasons.

Le Journal du Dimanche, a Sunday newspaper, published an open letter attributed to Depardieu in which the actor chides the Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, for calling him "pathetic" last week for moving to Belgium to escape French taxes.

"I leave after paying 85 per cent of my revenue in 2012," the letter says. "I turn in to you my passport and social security card which I have never used."

Depardieu, 64, has made more than 100 films.

AP