Overview
- The footage, published by celebrity magazine Public, shows the first lady telling comedian Ary Abittan, “If there are any ‘stupid bitches’ we’ll kick them out,” after he said he was scared before going on stage.
- Activists from #NousToutes had disrupted Abittan’s performance the previous night by wearing masks bearing his face with “rapist” written on them and chanting “Abittan rapist.”
- Brigitte Macron’s team said she was trying to reassure Abittan and was denouncing what it called a radical method of preventing a show, not attacking the cause of fighting sexual violence.
- Reactions spanned politics and culture, with feminist groups and actress Judith Godrèche reclaiming the slur online, former President François Hollande criticizing the vulgarity, and far-right figures arguing the remarks were private and the video was “stolen.”
- Abittan was accused of rape in 2021, but magistrates ended the case for lack of evidence in 2024 and an appeals court confirmed that decision in January, a judicial context central to the protests and the current debate.