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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBrigitte Bardot is dead
at the age of 91.
I had no idea that she was still alive.
She was definitely a big star when we discovered the movies.
Let me add that she was not by any means a decent human being - she was quite the racist, homophobe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Bardot
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mahatmakanejeeves
(68,525 posts)Coldwater
(1,041 posts)Pardon my skepticism but after all the recent reports of her death were confirmed as hoaxes, I'm sure you can understand
hlthe2b
(113,024 posts)Definitely not a "good person," but I will credit her with her animal activism. Beyond that, she seemed to harbor a LOT of hatred towards a lot of people. She was even convicted for inciting racial hatred.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/28/brigitte-bardot-french-screen-legend-and-animal-rights-activist-dies
lostnfound
(17,430 posts)Her support for animal rights was deep and highly impactful.
The anti-Muslim-immigration point of view is a little different issue in France than in the US. How does a sex symbol whose entire life was built around voluptuous sexuality for women, reconcile with immigration that was shifting her country’s mores toward women-must-cover-themselves at public beaches? With schools that were in some towns starting to insist on head coverings for girls in school?
Tolerance of intolerance is a risk to the rights of women. Do we want Christian nationalists to take over parts of the US and impose their version of morality? I don’t.
She was not a person prone to careful intellectual distinctions; she lived through her feelings, which were..messy.
Raine
(31,108 posts)to me.
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)She was an outright fascist, was racist, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, but somehow so-called "animal rights" lets her off the hook?
She was far worse than Erika Kirk.
No. There are plenty of people who do things for animals who aren't vile POS.
Raine
(31,108 posts)Can I not acknowledge one good thing she did because of the 99% bad.
BH liberal
(128 posts)She was marketed as a "sex kitten" and an embodiment of an emerging female sexual liberation while being steered and manipulated by Roger Vadim and other men. She struggled with the lack of privacy that her fame brought with it. Why is it that the public expects celebrities to be exemplary human beings? So many are not. The power, influence and wealth that often come with celebrity can be corrupting, indeed. Her advocacy for animal rights is a positive part of the legacy she leaves. RIP Brigitte...
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)She was nothing to admire whatsoever.
canetoad
(20,324 posts)You knew her personally?
You can provide legitimate quotes to her 'hatred of people"
Tell you what, sunshine, I hate people who are cruel to animals. With a fucking vengeance. You say 'supposed' , I say actual. Provide fucking proof or shut your mouth.
QueerDuck
(1,143 posts)
marble falls
(71,286 posts)marble falls
(71,286 posts)... seemed more about the treatment of animals. I think her big fault was measuring everybody else by her standards, she dissed feminism because she wasn't affected by misogyny and closed doors due to her fame and success almost from her birth.
She was right about one thing:
During the 2008 United States presidential election, Bardot branded Republican Party vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as "stupid" and a "disgrace to women". She criticized the former Alaskan governor for her stance on global warming and gun control. She was further offended by Palin's support for Arctic oil exploration and by her lack of consideration in protecting polar bears.[115]
I still don't get her appeal. A large part of her success was due to her shock value and looks. What little I saw of her in films showed a very shallow and wooden performance.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,524 posts)QueerDuck
(1,143 posts)
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,524 posts)QueerDuck
(1,143 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(26,524 posts)QueerDuck
(1,143 posts)That's over-thinking and "taking-me-far-too-seriously" thinking... but okay. 
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)She was a bigot of every kind of stripe. She was France's version of David Duke.
Yes, she loved animals, but so did Hitler. Like Hitler, she hated people, especially certain types of people. She didn't kill people, but her political beliefs multiplied by millions are what gave rise to fascism in Europe.
She was long married to a former advisor to the far right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. That is as bad as it gets in French politics.
She doesn't get a pass in my book.
BH liberal
(128 posts)doesn't mean they are "villains". Lots of actors, male and female, have been and are in that same boat. It's mainly in the genes, after all. In many cases, drugs and alcohol play a part.
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)There is no getting around it.
MineralMan
(150,741 posts)She was in the very first movie scene with nudity I ever saw, long, long ago in 1963. I did not expect that, nor did my high school girlfriend, who said, "Wow! I wish I looked like that!" Interesting reaction, I thought, at the time.
Response to MineralMan (Reply #19)
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MineralMan
(150,741 posts)I just don't see that as relevant. I'm not really a fan of anyone, either, though. I always see the roles before I notice the actors. I never seem to be able to name the actor who played some role in a movie. That surprises my wife every time, since she does remember their names.
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)She was an outright fascist. She was long married to a former advisor to Jean-Marie Le Pen, which is as bad as it gets politically in France. Le Pen died almost a year ago, at age 96, which means the good really do die young.
MineralMan
(150,741 posts)Truly, I did not follow her at all, except when I saw her on screen. When I say I do not concern myself with performers' politics, I mean that I do not pay any attention to them at all. They are performers. Why would I care what they think about political issues?
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)MineralMan
(150,741 posts)because I do not follow celebrities closely. I know them only from the roles they play or the music they play. I simply do not care about them beyond their performances. So, you're probably right, but I simply don't follow such people at all.
canetoad
(20,324 posts)A fucking rest. OK?
valleyrogue
(2,618 posts)Gee, I wonder why.
It is rank hypocrisy to criticize Erika Kirk while giving this woman a pass when arguably her politics were even worse.
It is okay she spewed hate toward immigrants, toward other women, toward gays, toward ethnic groups and we should all overlook it because she was so "hot" when she was young.
That is really what this apologia for a vile human being is about. ETA: Also remember she was in a position of influence thanks to having been married (since 1992) to an advisor to extremist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen and spoke highly of him.
canetoad
(20,324 posts)On full display.
And I will add, that this kind of one-eyed, implacable ignorance is one of the reason why the United States is in such woeful trouble.
You are spreading hate about a dead woman. It DOES NOT matter what bad she did in her life. It's over now and she can be remembered for the passion with which she loved and protected animals.
Hatred has no place in our lives and if you wish to perpetuate it, please take it elsewhere.
muriel_volestrangler
(105,702 posts)Convicted five times for racist remarks, the actress – whose foundation announced her death on Sunday, December 28 – remained one of the only French celebrities to openly embrace far-right views.
Brigitte Bardot, the actress, was known for Le Mépris (Contempt); Bardot, the political figure, embodied racial hatred. Convicted five times for inciting racial hatred, Bardot remained, for three decades, an exception in French culture – the only celebrity to openly defend the far right. In the 1990s, after withdrawing from film sets, the star adopted those views and married Bernard d'Ormale, adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far-right Front National (FN), the precursor to today’s Rassemblement National. He remained her husband until the end of her life.
In her hostility toward immigration and her nostalgia for a France she believed lost, she shared common ground with Alain Delon, another icon of the golden age of French cinema. But unlike Delon, Bardot multiplied Islamophobic remarks. Once an embodiment of women's freedom, her rejection of social conventions drove her, after her acting career, to push the boundaries of what could be said, wavering between a taste for provocation and outright racism.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/obituaries/article/2025/12/28/brigitte-bardot-s-30-years-of-sympathy-for-the-far-right_6748895_15.html#
No, it DOES matter what she did in her life. Death is not some absolution of all the evil that someone did. Did you complain when people pointed out the awful things Pinochet had done, when he died? Did you say about Saddam Hussein "it doesn't matter what he did, he loved his sons"? Do you intend to moan when people will remember the evil of Trump when he snuffs it?
People posting reminders here of her views are spreading knowledge. It's you, who want them to shut up, who are supporting "ignorance".
malaise
(293,535 posts) canetoad
(20,324 posts)Protected and stood up for animals.
