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New Delhi: French first lady Brigitte Macron is currently under a lot of fire, from gender conspiracies against her to now a case of her racist remarks becoming public. The latest outrage comes after Brigitte Macron was filmed using derogatory and sexist slurs to describe feminist protesters in Paris.
This related to a video filmed on Sunday in which Brigitte Macron was seen in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comedian. Abittan was previously accused of rape and before he was about to perform on stage, protests by feminist groups against him took place.
The controversial comments took place on Sunday, when before Abittan’s performance, Macron asked him how he was feeling. In his response where he talked about feeling scared, the French first lady referred to the protesters as “sales connes” (dirty or stupid bitches). She was further seen saying that in response to the protests, “we’ll toss them out”.
Macron’s response to feminist protests has not gone down well in many sections of French polity and civic life. In response to the uproar, her office released a statement that she had been trying to calm his nerves. It read, “As the video shows, Mrs Macron’s only intention was to reassure an artist who, in his dressing room before going on stage, had just told her: ‘I’m scared’ because his show had been disrupted the previous evening. In no way is she attacking a cause. She does, however, disapprove of the radical methods used to prevent an artist from performing on stage, as was the case on Saturday night.”
Despite the clarification from the first lady, the feminist campaign group Nous Toutes (“All of Us”) against whose activists Macron’s comments were raised, have reacted sharply. They first clarified their righteousness of their protest, saying how they were against “the culture of impunity” around sexual violence in France. In particular to the performance of Abittan.
In a statement on Instagram, Nous Toutes said: “We denounce venues that roll out a red carpet for men accused of rape, normalising sexist and sexual violence. It is a public insult to the victims. Victims, we believe you. Rapists, we do not forgive you!” Many politicians on the French left-wing have also criticised Brigitte Macron’s use of a sexist slur, calling her out and demanding an apology. The former Socialist president François Hollande for example told RTL radio, “There’s a problem of vulgarity.” The Green leader, Marine Tondelier similarly said that Macron’s comments were “extremely serious” and should not have been made by a first lady.
For Brigitte Macron though things have not been smooth sailing for some time now. This largely is a result of recent conspiracy theories against her that question the First Lady's gender identity. The case has now become subject to a legal battle, as of which the French President has to now prove that his wife is not a "transgender woman".
While conspiracy theory circles such comments were being made for some time now, the issue took to global prominence when in 2024, Candance Owens, a popular US right-wing online commentator started circulating conspiracy theories about Brigitte's gender online. In March last year, Owens said that she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on her claim that Brigitte “is in fact a man” and “he transitioned” secretly decades ago. This was not taken well by the Macrons who then filed a defamation lawsuit against Owens, accusing of spreading “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched” lies that have sparked a “campaign of global humiliation” and “relentless bullying”.
