“Disgusting goats.” France’s first lady under fire for comment against feminist activists

Brigitte Macron was caught on video insulting activists who were demonstrating against a comedian accused of rape in a case that has already been filed. “Exchange of words should be seen simply as criticism”, says the first lady’s team.

Brigitte Macron is at the center of a new controversy in France, after having qualified as “dirty cunts” (“disgusting goats”, translating into Portuguese) the feminist activists who interrupted a show by comedian Ary Abittan, in Paris.

It all happened on Saturday night, when four activists from the feminist collective #NousToutes entered the stage during Ary Abittan’s show at the Folies Bergère, in Paris. They wore masks with the comedian’s face and the word “violeur” (“violator”).

The comedian had been accused of rape by a young woman with whom he had a relationship in 2021. After three years of investigation, the case was closed, recalls . Still, her return to the stage has been contested by feminist groups.

On Sunday, the night after the protest, Brigitte Macron went to the same theater to watch the show, accompanied by her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière. In a video initially released by the Public newspaper, the first lady can be seen backstage, talking to Ary Abittan before the performance.

“If there are disgusting goats, we will drive them out”says the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron in the images. “Especially the masked bandits”, he continues.

🔴 UNUSUAL – Faced with the scandal caused by this video where Brigitte Macron vulgarly supports Ary Abittan, the tabloid Public decided to remove it from its content to protect Brigitte’s image.

It is therefore appropriate to relay it as much as possible.

— Gabriel de Varenne (@G_deVarenne)

The images were quickly shared by the #NousToutes collective on social media, which recovered the expression in the form of a hashtag, #salesconnes.

“We are deeply shocked and scandalized. The words used say a lot about their view of things, the political message is extremely shocking,” a #NousToutes Paris Nord activist, identified as Gwen, told AFP.

Actress Judith Godrèche was one of the figures who expressed support for the collective, writing on Instagram “I’m also a sale conne. And I support all the others.” On a political level, the leader of the ecologists, Marine Tondelier, classified the statements as “very serious”, stressing on BFMTV that “a first lady should not say this”.

Questioned by AFP, sources close to the French first lady stated that “this exchange of words must be seen simply as a criticism of the radical methods employed by those who, wearing masks, interrupted Ary Abittan’s concert on Saturday night to prevent the artist from performing”, and that “Brigitte Macron does not approve of these radical methods.”