Feminists expressed outrage on Monday after footage circulated of France’s first woman Brigitte Macron utilizing a slur in opposition to activists who disrupted the present of an actor-comedian who had as soon as been accused of rape.
The first woman’s staff stated she had supposed to criticise their “radical technique” of protest.
Activists on Saturday interrupted the stand-up present of 51-year-old Ary Abittan, sporting masks of the actor bearing the phrase “rapist” and shouting “Abittan rapist”.
A girl in 2021 accused the actor of rape however in 2023 investigators dropped the case, citing lack of proof.
Brigitte Macron on Sunday went to see the present along with her daughter Tiphaine Auziere, and spoke with Abittan earlier than he went on stage, in keeping with a video printed by native media Public on Monday.
“I’m scared,” Abittan is heard saying within the clip.
“If there are any silly bitches we’ll kick them out,” Brigitte Macron is heard to jokingly reply, utilizing the vulgar French expression ‘sale conne‘.
The feminist group behind Saturday’s motion, #NousToutes (actually “All of us”) on social media turned the insult right into a hashtag and plenty of posts shared it in a present of assist.
Among these utilizing it was actor Judith Godreche, who has grow to be a feminist icon since accusing two administrators of sexually abusing her when she was a minor and calling for an finish to such behaviour in France’s cultural sector.
“I too am a silly bitch,” she posted on Instagram.
An activist who took half within the motion, and who gave the pseudonym of Gwen to keep away from repercussions, stated the collective was “profoundly shocked and scandalised” by Brigitte Macron’s language.
“It’s one more insult to victims and feminist teams,” she stated.
The first woman’s staff argued her phrases needs to be seen as “a critique of the novel technique employed by those that disrupted the present”.
“Brigitte Macron doesn’t approve of this radical technique,” a member of her staff advised AFP.
France has been rocked by a collection of accusations of rape and sexual assault in opposition to well-known cultural figures in recent times.
Screen icon Gerard Depardieu was in May convicted of sexually assaulting two girls on a movie set in 2021, and is to face trial charged with raping an actor in 2018. He denies any wrongdoing.
French President Emmanuel Macron in 2023 had expressed admiration for Depardieu, and stated on the time the actor was the goal of a “manhunt” and he stood behind the presumption of innocence.
