“WOW. [Not] surprised though. That’s New York City for you. [It’s] sad though…. Very sad!!!!” exclaimed a reader on Facebook. Echoing a similar sentiment, another added, “OMG..if [it’s] true ? [it’s] so sad ? but I don’t know what they [are] doing in Hollywood to [these] people ?.”
Praising Gere’s actions, someone else chimed in with, “Amazing. I’m glad he did this, taking a good look at OUR SOCIETY.”
At the time the movie was still in production and when the public still believed him to be just another homeless man on the streets, a well-intentioned French mom, who saw Gere and felt sorry for him, offered him food.
Not recognizing the actor or the fact that he was feigning homelessness for the film, Karine Gombeau, who was visiting New York from Paris with her family, noticed Gere sifting through a garbage can near Grand Central Terminal.
Heartbroken by what she saw, Gombeau decided to give Gere some leftover slices of a big pizza that she, her husband, and their son had ordered at an Italian eatery. Approaching the “Unfaithful” talent with the pizza, Gere asked, “What’s in the bag?”
Gombeau recalled how she had tried to respond in English but ended up answering in a mix of English and her native language—French. “I said, ‘Je suis désolée [I am sorry], but the pizza is cold,” revealed the French tourist. “He said, ‘Thank you so much. God bless you,'” Gombeau divulged further.
It wasn’t until Gombeau received a story copy of her good deed, which was written by The Post, two days later that she learned that Gere was only pretending to be homeless. She said a worker at the Salisbury Hotel, where she was staying at the time, gave the article to her.
Much to her surprise, Gombeau found a photo of herself with Richard Gere inside the article. “It was magical … It’s crazy, this story. It’s unimaginable that something like this could happen,” she previously marveled.
