Overview
- AFP reports the clip was shot by a Bestimage videographer and, according to the agency, sold to outlets including Public, Paris Match and Closer without checking the sound while its director Mimi Marchand was absent.
- The video, filmed Sunday backstage at the Folies Bergère, shows Brigitte Macron telling Ary Abittan, "If there are ‘sales connes’ we’ll throw them out," a day after activists disrupted his show.
- Her entourage told AFP the comment was a criticism of the protesters’ “radical method” of interrupting a performance while masked, and no public apology has been issued.
- Reactions spanned politics and civil society, with left-wing lawmakers, feminist groups and union leader Marylise Léon condemning the language, as NousToutes and public figures reclaimed the phrase via #salesconnes.
- The episode rekindles debate over Abittan’s case, which ended in a non-lieu in 2024 and was upheld on appeal in January 2025, even as activists continue to oppose his return to the stage.