Chappell Roan Learned a Hard Truth About Brigitte Bardot, Who Inspired One of Her Songs
This past Sunday, December 28th, Brigitte Bardot passed away at the age of 91. Her career as an actress, model, animal rights activist, and icon of the sexual revolution spanned decades, but was also marred by countless controversies and multiple fines from the French government for inciting racial hatred.
The news of Bardot’s death has led a lot of people to, intentionally or otherwise, learn about that controversial side of her life. Chappell Roan, who references Bardot by name in her 2023 hit “Red Wine Supernova,” might be the most public example of it yet.
Over the weekend, Roan acknowledged Bardot’s passing via Instagram Stories, posting a photo of the actress with the caption “She was my inspiration for Red Wine Supernova. Rest in peace Ms. Bardot.” Hours later, Roan deleted the original story, uploading another that simply read: “Holy shit i did not know all that insane shit Ms. Bardot stood for obvs I do not condone this. very disappointing to learn.”
“Red Wine Supernova” is far from the only popular song that name-drops Bardot, with The Pretenders’ “Message of Love”, Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, and more recently Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy” being just a few of the examples. But given Roan’s rising popularity, and her past history of comments on social media coming under scrutiny, it’s understandable that some would think of “Red Wine Supernova” upon hearing about Bardot’s death… and then look to the singer to make a statement on it.
Why Was Brigitte Bardot Controversial?
While Bardot’s career included iconic projects like And God Created Woman…, Contempt, and The Truth, she also courted a fair amount of controversy. Some of it came through her decades of work fighting against animal cruelty through her charity, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.
In multiple instances, her negative comments about other cultures’ ritualistic slaughter practices veered into racism. She was fined multiple times by the French government for writing or expressing Islamophobic statements, including multiple charges of “inciting racial hatred.” These statements were made in her 1999 book Le Carré de Pluton (Pluto’s Square) and her 2003 book, Un cri dans le silence (A Scream in the Silence), the latter of which also included inflammatory comments against multiracial relationships, the LGBTQ+ community, and whether or not women should be involved with politics. Bardot later argued against the racial hatred charge, saying, “I never knowingly wanted to hurt anybody. It is not in my character.”
In 2018, as the #MeToo movement was becoming a worldwide phenomenon, she referred to the actresses who were coming forward with their stories as “hypocrites” and “ridiculous.”
“Many actresses flirt with producers to get a role,” Bardot told Paris Match at the time. “Then when they tell the story afterwards, they say they have been harassed […] in actual fact, rather than benefit them, it only harms them.”
More recently, Bardot came under fire in 2019 for referring to the citizens of the French territory Réunion as “savages.” She also was close to Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine Le Pen, both of whom are associated with the far-right French party the National Rally.
(featured image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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