Brigitte Macron has sparked fury after she was caught calling anti-rape activists “stupid b****es” while backstage at a Parisian theatre with her daughter.
The French first lady, 72, was filmed at the Folies Bergère on Sunday shouting back at protestors who interrupted a show the day before to call performer Ary Abittan, 51, a “rapist”.
Abittan had been accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in 2021, but the charges were dropped in 2023, and an appeal this year upheld the decision.
In a now-viral video, Abittan was heard telling Ms Macron, the wife of president Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday that he was “scared” before going back out on stage.
“If there are any stupid b****es we’ll kick them out,” Ms Macron joked. “Especially masked bandits.”
A spokesman for Ms Macron said: “This exchange should only be seen as criticism of the radical methods used by those who, wearing masks, disrupted Ary Abittan’s show on Saturday evening to prevent the artist from performing.
“Brigitte Macron does not approve of these radical methods.”
Four activists from the #NousToutes (’All of Us’) collective had disrupted Abittan’s performance on Saturday, wearing masks of his face with the word “rapist” written on their foreheads. They chanted “Ary Abittan rapist” before being hauled out of the room.
Abittan returned to the public eye earlier this year with a show called “Authentique”.
One of the activists, named only as Gwen, said after Sunday’s video emerged: “We are deeply shocked and outraged. The words used speak volumes about her worldview; the political message is extremely shocking.”
#NousToutes took to social media to reclaim the slur, writing: “stupid b****es and proud of it!”
The video racked up hundreds of thousands of views after it was published online by the French weekly magazine “Public”.
Other vocal activists weighed in, joining in solidarity with #NousToutes. Judith Godrèche, a French actress who accused film directors of historical abuse last year, posted on Instagram in response: “I too am a stupid b****.”
The deputy chair of the French National Assembly, Clémence Guetté, called out the French first lady on X, saying: “Brigitte Macron calls the activists mobilised in front of the theatre where a man accused of sexual violence is performing ‘stupid b****es.’ Violence, the famous ‘great cause of the five-year term.’”
Mr Macron had promised gender equality would be the “great national cause” of his presidential term in 2017.
Manon Aubry, an MEP with the left-wing party La France Insoumise, wrote: “It started with women’s rights as the ‘major cause of the five-year term,’ and it ends with insulting them. It’s time for the Macron couple to go.”
Ms Macron has separately brought legal action against 10 people accused of cyberbullying her by spreading malicious rumours about her gender and sexuality online.
