Emmanuel Macron is not expected to attend the funeral of Brigitte Bardot which will take place on January 7 in Saint-Tropez, however Marine Le Pen will attend as planned. Specifically, according to lefigaro.fr, the Élysée proposed organizing a tribute to the iconic figure of French cinema, Brigitte Bardot, but her family did not follow through.
It should be noted that President Macron did not enjoy particular esteem from the actress, who in 2023 had sent him a harsh letter accusing him of inaction regarding animal abuse. “I am furious about your inaction, your cowardice, your contempt for the French people, who justly return this attitude to you,” she had written among other things.
The presidential palace “had a conversation with the family, with the proposal to pay tribute, but there was no response,” a Macron aide told AFP.
Brigitte Bardot funeral: French political scene divided
Such an action corresponds to a “republican custom,” the same source emphasized, recalling that tributes “are systematically decided in common agreement with the deceased’s relatives.” The idea of a national tribute divided the political scene after the announcement of Brigitte Bardot’s death. Eric Ciotti, president of the UDR, an ally of the National Rally with which Brigitte Bardot had close ties, warmly supported this proposal. However, the head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, while paying tribute to “an iconic actress,” estimated that national tributes are awarded for “exceptional services to the Nation” and that the artist – who has been convicted several times for racist and homophobic statements – had “turned her back on democratic values.”
It is noteworthy that Marine Le Pen’s relations with Brigitte Bardot were particularly good. Already close to her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Brigitte Bardot was married for three decades to a former advisor to the founder of the National Front (former RN), with whom she shared his views on “the terrifying rise of immigration.” Her sympathy for the far-right party had later led her to call on mayors to support Marine Le Pen’s first presidential candidacy in 2012.
