Overview
- A video published by celebrity outlet Public shows France’s first lady backstage at Paris’s Folies Bergère telling comedian Ary Abittan that any “stupid bitches” disrupting his show would be ejected.
- Four #NousToutes activists had halted Abittan’s performance the previous night, wearing masks and chanting that he was a rapist, even though the 2021 rape investigation was dropped and that decision was upheld on appeal.
- Brigitte Macron’s team said she was reassuring Abittan and was condemning protesters’ methods, not the fight against sexual violence.
- #NousToutes reclaimed the slur as a hashtag, drawing support from prominent figures including Judith Godrèche and Marion Cotillard.
- Political reactions ranged from calls for an apology by left-wing figures, including François Hollande, to defenses citing privacy and court decisions, with government spokesperson Maud Bregeon saying an apology was not needed.