Brigitte Bardot’s Complex Legacy: Cinema Icon, Animal Activist, Far-Right Symbol

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

  • Dual legacy: Celebrated screen icon and animal rights champion whose reputation is deeply shaped by her far-right politics.
  • Political influence: Among the first major film stars in France to openly support the far right, backing the National Rally for over 30 years.
  • Legal controversies: Convicted five times for inciting racial hatred, largely over statements about Muslims, immigration, and overseas French territories.
  • Cultural symbol: Once a model for Marianne, the emblem of the French republic, yet later embraced as a nationalist icon by Marine Le Pen.
  • Clashing causes: Passionate defender of animals who rejected feminism and criticised #MeToo, while praising some political opponents on animal issues.

Table of Contents

Brigitte Bardot’s Legacy at a Glance

Brigitte Bardot, often dubbed “the French Marilyn Monroe”, left behind a legacy that is impossible to separate from politics. Up to her death in December 2025, she actively commented on France’s future, praising the rising strength of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally ahead of the 2027 presidential race.

Although Bardot insisted she wanted to be remembered only for her animal rights work, her public stance on immigration, Islam, and French identity has become an equally defining part of how history will view her.

How Bardot Became a Star of the French Far Right

From the 1990s onward, Bardot was one of the most visible cultural figures to support France’s far-right movement. She initially backed Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Front National, then continued her support when his daughter Marine Le Pen rebranded the party as the National Rally (RN).

Her involvement was not casual. Living on the French Riviera, where the far right was gaining ground, Bardot met her future husband, Bernard d’Ormale, at a Saint-Tropez dinner organised with the Le Pen family. D’Ormale, a former adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen, became both her partner in life and a symbol of the deep intertwining of her private world with far-right politics.

Bardot regularly endorsed Marine Le Pen’s presidential bids in 2012 and 2017, publicly applauding Le Pen’s positions on immigration and culture, including her criticism of halal meat in France.

Convictions, Controversies and Accusations of Racism

Bardot’s political commentary frequently crossed legal lines. She was convicted five times for inciting racial hatred. Much of this related to derogatory remarks about Muslims and denunciations of what she called an “invasion” of foreigners in France.

Her remarks extended beyond mainland France. She referred to people living on the French island of Réunion as “savages”, further damaging her reputation among audiences who had known her only as a glamorous film legend or animal protector.

In her final book, Mon BBcédaire (My BB Alphabet), published just weeks before her death, she doubled down. She claimed that “the right” – her term for the National Rally – was the “only urgent remedy to the agony of France”, which she described as “dull, sad, submissive, ill, ruined, ravaged, ordinary and vulgar”.

From Screen Siren to Animal Rights Crusader

After stepping away from cinema, Bardot channelled her star power into animal rights. This is the side of her legacy she most wanted preserved. She met with nearly every French president from Charles de Gaulle to Emmanuel Macron, lobbying on issues such as:

  • The importation of baby seal fur
  • Elephant poaching and the ivory trade
  • Hunting practices within France

Her activism was often dramatic. In 2013, she threatened to leave France and seek Russian citizenship if two tuberculosis-stricken elephants at Lyon zoo were euthanised. At first she praised Vladimir Putin, then later criticised him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Interestingly, Bardot said she was “resolutely of the right” but argued she could work with any politician, left or right, who advanced animal welfare. She even praised leftwing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon for being vegetarian, showing how her animal agenda occasionally cut across party lines.

A National Symbol Claimed by Nationalists

Bardot’s face and style shaped France’s postwar pop culture. Her image was even used as a template for Marianne, the female figure symbolising the French republic. Yet this emblem of republican values later became a heroine for the nationalist right.

Marine Le Pen frequently invoked Bardot as the essence of “Frenchness”. During the 2016 debate over banning burkinis from French beaches, Le Pen contrasted them with Bardot’s iconic bikini images from Cannes, casting Bardot as a shorthand for a certain vision of French secular and cultural identity.

As the National Rally grew stronger – culminating in increased parliamentary representation after Emmanuel Macron’s snap election – younger party leader Jordan Bardella hailed Bardot as an “ardent patriot”, underscoring how firmly she had been adopted as a symbol of the contemporary far right.

Views on Feminism, #MeToo and Gender Politics

In her later years, Bardot’s stance on gender politics placed her at odds with many contemporary movements. She was openly critical of the #MeToo movement and dismissed modern feminism.

Ahead of the verdict against actor Gérard Depardieu for sexually assaulting two women during a 2021 film shoot, Bardot defended what she framed as “talented people who grab a girl’s bottom.” In a final television interview with BFM TV, she declared: “Feminism isn’t my thing … I like men.” When challenged with the idea that one could be both feminist and appreciative of men, she flatly shouted, “No!”

For many observers, this underlined the gap between her status as a former sex symbol and evolving debates about consent, power, and sexism in the film industry.

What Readers Can Take Away Today

Bardot’s story is a reminder that cultural icons can carry deeply conflicting legacies. One person can be:

  • A trailblazing film star and fashion influence
  • A passionate, impactful advocate for animal welfare
  • A repeat offender in hate-speech cases and a loyal supporter of extremist politics

If you are exploring how celebrity, activism and politics intersect, Bardot’s life offers a case study in how fame can both advance compassionate causes and amplify divisive, harmful rhetoric. It also raises questions for readers about how we choose the figures we celebrate, the causes we champion, and the values we are willing to overlook in the process.

For deeper context on French politics, you might explore recent analyses of the National Rally’s rise or profiles of contemporary animal-rights campaigns to see how Bardot’s influence still echoes in today’s debates.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/28/brigitte-bardot-image-support-of-far-right