Brigitte Macron criticised after utilizing sexist slur in opposition to feminist protesters

[ad_1] French celebrities and politicians on the left have expressed outrage after Brigitte Macron was filmed utilizing a derogatory and sexist slur to explain feminist protesters at a theatre present in Paris.

A video filmed on Sunday confirmed France’s first woman in dialogue backstage on the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comic beforehand accused of rape, earlier than a efficiency he was about to present. The earlier evening, feminist campaigners had disrupted his present with shouts of: “Abittan, rapist!”

Earlier than Sunday’s efficiency, Macron requested him how he was feeling. When he stated he was feeling scared, she referred to the protesters as “ gross sales connes” (soiled or silly bitches) and including that in the event that they reappeared, “we’ll toss them out”.

Her workplace stated in a press release that she had been making an attempt to calm his nerves: “Because the video reveals, Mrs Macron’s solely intention was to reassure an artist who, in his dressing room earlier than occurring stage, had simply instructed her: ‘I’m scared’ as a result of his present had been disrupted the earlier night.

“On no account is she attacking a trigger. She does, nonetheless, disapprove of the unconventional strategies used to forestall an artist from acting on stage, as was the case on Saturday evening.”

The feminist marketing campaign group Nous Toutes (“All of Us”) stated its activists had disrupted Abittan’s present to protest in opposition to what it described as “the tradition of impunity” round sexual violence in France.

Magistrates terminated the investigation of the 2021 rape allegation in opposition to Abittan in 2024 as a result of lack of proof, a choice confirmed on attraction in January this yr, in accordance with French media.

In a press release on Instagram, Nous Toutes stated: “We denounce venues that roll out a pink carpet for males accused of rape, normalising sexist and sexual violence. It's a public insult to the victims. Victims, we consider you. Rapists, we don't forgive you!”

Politicians on the left criticised using a sexist slur and a few stated Brigitte Macron ought to apologise. The previous Socialist president François Hollande instructed RTL radio: “There’s an issue of vulgarity.” The Inexperienced chief, Marine Tondelier, stated the feedback had been “extraordinarily severe” and shouldn't have been made by a primary woman.

A number of celebrities voiced help for the feminist campaigners by adopting the insult for themselves with the hashtag #salesconnes. The actor and director Judith Godrèche, a leading voice in France’s #MeToo movement who has filed complaints in opposition to two movie administrators for sexually assaulting her when she was an adolescent, posted on social media: “Me too – I’m additionally a salle conne (soiled, silly bitch) and I help all of the others.”

The singer and actor Camélia Jordana posted an image of herself with #saleconne throughout her brow.

The Inexperienced senator Mélanie Vogel posted on social media: “And an excellent day to all of the silly bitches of our nation,” whereas the secretary normal of the average CFDT commerce union, Marylise Léon, stated the feedback had been “inappropriate and crude”.

On the French far proper, nonetheless, the Nationwide Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy stated Brigitte Macron’s feedback had been made in personal. “If every of us had been filmed backstage saying issues with buddies, I feel there could be lots to touch upon,” he instructed the broadcaster BFMTV. “All of that is very hypocritical.”