France's first lady Brigitte Macron apologises after slur sparks feminist backlash

France's first lady Brigitte Macron apologised on Monday for using a slur against activists that sparked a feminist backlash, trying to quell an incident that generated a social media trend against her.

"I am sorry if I hurt women victims," the 72-year-old told the media outlet Brut, calling the remarks caught on video early this month "private" comments.

But, she added: "I can't regret them. True, I am the wife of the president of the republic, but I am above all myself. And so when I am in private, I can let myself go in a way that is not totally proper."

Brigitte Macron was referring to a description she made of activists who disrupted a December 7 stand-up show she attended of a French actor accused of – but not charged with – rape. 

Speaking to the actor, Ary Abittan, backstage, Brigitte Macron had called the activists "stupid bitches" ("sales connes" in French).

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When the video of the exchange was published the next day, the hashtag #SalesConnes started to trend on social media, with some high-profile actors – including the Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard – subsequently using it in social media posts.

Despite efforts by the first lady's office to present the slur as a "radical method" of criticism against the activists, the backlash did not ease.

Grève Feministe, a collective of around 60 feminist groups whose name translates as "Feminist Strike", had demanded a public apology.

The activists who disrupted the comedy show had worn masks of Abittan bearing the word "rapist", and shouted "Abittan rapist".

The actor and comedian had been accused of rape in 2021 by a woman who alleged he had forced her into a nonconsensual sexual act.

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Investigators in 2023 dropped the case against him, and an appeals court in January upheld that decision.

France, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, has been rocked by a series of accusations of rape and sexual assault against well-known cultural figures.

Screen icon Gérard Depardieu was in May convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, and is to stand trial charged with raping an actor in 2018. He denies any wrongdoing.

President Emmanuel Macron had in 2023 said Depardieu was the target of a "manhunt" and that he believed in the presumption of innocence.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)