This story is a journey. At first, I laughed, then I briefly appreciated Brigitte Macron for arguing that she was speaking in a private capacity, and then at the end of the piece, I was completely horrified. Last week, France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron went to support her friend Ary Abittan at a comedy show at a Paris theater. His show was loudly protested by feminist activists the previous night. After the show, Brigitte went backstage and told Abittan that the activists were “stupid bitches.” Her remarks were caught on camera. Wait until you see WHY the activists were protesting Ary Abittan though.
Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France, apologized on Monday night for offending feminist protesters during a private conversation last week, but she also said that she should be able to speak freely when with friends.
“I am sorry if I have hurt women victims,” Ms. Macron said in a short video published by the French news outlet Brut. But when asked if she regretted her words, Ms. Macron said no.
“I am indeed the wife of the president of the Republic, but I am also, above all, myself,” said Ms. Macron, who is married to President Emmanuel Macron of France. “When I am in private, I can let myself go in a way that is absolutely not adequate,” she said.
Her comments were a response to a video that surfaced online last week showing Ms. Macron backstage at a theater with a French comedian, Ary Abittan, whose show had been disrupted the night before by feminist activists. While chatting with him, Ms. Macron jokingly described the activists using a term that roughly translates to “stupid bitches.”
Addressing those comments a week later, Ms. Macron said she “totally understood” the uproar that followed but added that she had been speaking in a private setting, trying to reassure a friend who was afraid of returning to the stage. Ms. Macron acknowledged that her way of comforting Mr. Abittan may have been “clumsy” but that she had had “no other words at my disposal at that moment.”
Regardless, she added, “I think we have the right to think and the right to speak.”
Ms. Macron also criticized the activists’ decision to disrupt Mr. Abittan’s show. “What does this censorship of artists mean?” she said. “We are not judges.”
The show was interrupted by four activists from a feminist collective called NousToutes, which translates to All of Us Women. Mr. Abittan was accused of rape in 2021 and has faced opposition since, including after the charges were dismissed by an appeals court in January.
Me Too never really got a foothold in the French film/entertainment community, although some high-profile French women did express support and some women even came forward with their own stories of French predators within the community. I guess I find it interesting that feminists showed up to protest a guy accused of rape. And yes, it looks really awful that Brigitte called them the French equivalent of “stupid bitches.” I get that she was speaking in a private capacity, but it’s not just about her word choice here. It’s the fact that she’s chummy with this guy and that she’s effectively taking “his side” over the feminists’ side. Does she have the right to speak privately with a friend? For sure. But everybody’s free speech is being honored here – the feminists had every right to protest and Brigitte can call them names if she wants. She’s just not free from the consequences.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
