A segment honoring the late film star Brigitte Bardot was met with audible dissent during France’s premier cinema ceremony. While some applause was heard, clear boos and a cry of “racist!” punctuated the memorial, highlighting the deeply conflicted legacy of the screen icon.
Bardot, who passed away last year, remains one of the most internationally recognized figures of 20th-century French cinema, famed for roles that defined a generation. However, her post-retirement public life became increasingly controversial. After focusing on animal welfare advocacy, she shifted towards political commentary, authoring works and making public statements that led to multiple convictions in French courts for inciting racial hatred and homophobia, often directed at minority communities.
This division in her public perception was recently underscored when a contemporary musician publicly retracted a posthumous tribute upon learning of Bardot’s contentious views, calling the discovery “very disappointing.”
The awards ceremony itself has a recent history of on-stage protests, including dramatic demonstrations in previous years over other controversial honorees.
Elsewhere during the event, the top prize for best film was awarded to a family drama, while the best director honor went to an American filmmaker for his work about a seminal French New Wave production.
