Brigitte Macron calls feminist protesters ‘stupid b*tches’, sparks fury
The French first lady is under fire after blasting a group of activists who disrupted the show of a comedian once accused of rape.
Feminists in France have blasted First Lady Brigitte Macron after footage circulated of her using a slur against activists who disrupted the show of a comedian who was once accused of rape.
At the stand-up show of Ary Abittan on Saturday, local time, activists wore masks of the actor bearing the word “rapist” and shouted “Abittan rapist”. A woman accused the 51-year-old of sexual assault in 2021, but in investigators dropped the case two years later, citing a lack of evidence.
Ms Macron went to see Abittan’s show on Sunday with her daughter, Tiphaine Auziere, and spoke with the comedian before he went on stage, according to a video published by local media Public on Tuesday.
“I’m scared,” Abittan is heard saying in the clip.
“If there are any stupid b*tches we’ll kick them out,” the First Lady is heard jokingly responding, using a vulgar expression in French.
The feminist group behind the weekend’s action, #NousToutes (which translates to “All of us”) turned the insult into a hashtag on social media.
Among those who used it was French actor Judith Godreche, who has become a feminist icon since accusing two directors of sexually abusing her when she was a minor and calling for an end to such behaviour in the country’s cultural sector.
“I too am a stupid b*tch,” she wrote on Instagram.
One of the activists who took part in the demonstration, and who gave the pseudonym of Gwen to avoid repercussions, said the group was “profoundly shocked and scandalised” by Ms Macron’s language.
“It’s yet another insult to victims and feminist groups,” she said.
Ms Macron’s team argued that her words should be seen as “a critique of the radical method employed by those who disrupted the show”.
“Brigitte Macron does not approve of this radical method,” a spokesperson for the First Lady told AFP.
France has been rocked by a series of accusations of rape and sexual assault against well-known cultural figures in recent years.
Screen icon Gerard Depardieu in May was convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, and will stand trial charged with raping an actor in 2018. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Ms Macron’s husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, expressed admiration for Depardieu in 2023, saying at the time that the actor was the target of a “manhunt” and that he stood behind the presumption of innocence.
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Originally published as Brigitte Macron calls feminist protesters ‘stupid b*tches’, sparks fury
