The French are divided over respecting Brigitte Bardot because of her right-wing views

Paris – French politicians were divided on Monday over how to honor the late Brigitte Bardot who, despite her screen legend, courted controversy – and convictions – later in life for her right-wing views.

A movie star He died on Sunday at the age of 91 at home in the south of France. The media around the world broadcast his strange photos and congratulations following the announcement.

Bardot rose to fame in the 1956 film “And God Made Woman” and went on to appear in about 50 films, but turned her back on cinema in 1973 to devote herself to the fight for animal rights.

But his connection to the far-right movement sparked controversy.

Bardot has been convicted five times for hate speech, mainly about Muslims but also about the inhabitants of the French island of Reunion, whom she describes as “criminals.”

She died before dawn on Sunday morning with her fourth husband, Bernard d’Ormale, who was a counselor on the right, by her side.

“He whispered a word of love to her … and she was gone,” Bruno Jacquelin, a representative of her animal association, told BFM TV.

French President Emmanuel Macron praised him as a “legend” of 20th-century cinema that “shows the life of freedom.”

Right-wing politicians admire Bardot

People on the right were among the first to cry for him.

Marine le Pen, whose National Rally party is riding high in the polls, called him “incredibly French: free, indomitable, perfect.”

Bardot supported Le Pen for president in 2012 and 2017 and described her as a modern “Joan of Arc” who she hoped could “save” France.

Passionate politician Eric Ciotti has proposed a national farewell like the one planned for French rock star Johnny Hallyday.

He launched an online petition that attracted more than 7,000 signatures on Monday.

Left-wing politicians are effusive with praise and others with harsh criticism

But few politicians on the left have spoken about Bardot’s passing.

“Brigitte Bardot was a great person, a symbol of freedom, revolution, and love,” Philippe Brun, a senior vice president of the Socialist party, told Europe 1 radio.

“We are sad that he is no more,” he said, adding that he is not against honoring the nation.

But he expressed his controversial political views.

“As for his political commitment, there will be plenty of time — in the coming days and weeks — to talk about it,” he said.

Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel called Bardot a separatist.

But “we all agree that the French cinema created BB and that it made it famous all over the world,” he wrote in X.

Lawyer Sandrine Rousseau, of the left-leaning Greens Party, was more critical.

“To be moved by the fate of the dolphins but remain indifferent to the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean — what level of skepticism is that?” laughed BlueSky.

Bardot’s words at her funeral raised eyebrows

Bardot said she wanted to be buried in her garden with a wooden cross over her grave — like her animals — and she wanted to avoid a “crowd of fools” at her funeral.

Such a funeral can take place in France if the local authorities give permission.

Bardot was born on September 28, 1934 in Paris, and grew up in a wealthy Catholic family.

Married four times, she had one child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, with her second husband, actor Jacques Charrier.

After leaving the cinema, Bardot retreated to her home in Saint-Tropez to dedicate herself to animal rights.

His calling came when he met a goat on the set of his last film, The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot. To save it from being killed, he bought this animal and kept it in his hotel room.

“I am very proud of the first chapter of my life,” he told AFP in an interview in 2024 before his 90th birthday.

“It gave me fame, and that fame allows me to protect animals — the only cause that really matters to me.”