Brigitte Bardot’s Legacy of Racist Rhetoric
Brigitte Bardot, a French actress and icon of 1960s cinema who died at 91, was also a controversial figure due to her history of racist rhetoric. After retiring from acting in 1973, she became known for making anti-immigrant and Islamophobic statements, targeting Muslims, immigrants, and other groups. Bardot was convicted six times under France's hate-speech laws for these statements. She became an ally of the far-right National Front party, founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, and later supported its rebranded version. Her outspoken views, expressing the party's anti-immigrant ideology, made her a popular icon for the French far right.