A tribute honoring the late French actress Brigitte Bardot at France’s rendition of the Oscars was met with loud contempt from the audience.
The César Awards paid tribute to the legendary starlet with a montage of cult scenes from her various films, including And God Created Woman and Contempt, according to Variety.
Footage of the incident went viral, with a French film influencer posting the clip on TikTok and receiving over 156,000 views. In the video, a guest can be heard yelling, “racist!” while others booed.
A fixture of post-war cinema, Bardot died of cancer in December at the age of 91. The actress retired from acting in the late 1970s, dedicating her time to animal activism.
But she remained a media fixture because of her outspoken, far-right views. Bardot was fined six times for provoking racial hatred. Her long list of racial insults included verbally attacking Muslim immigrants in France and calling the indigenous population of the French Pacific island of Réunion “degenerate savages.”
Despite numerous registered comments attacking minorities, Bardot defended herself against such claims in 2004, saying in court, “I never knowingly wanted to hurt anybody. It is not in my character.”
Her complicated legacy made headlines following her death. Pop star Chappell Roan, 27, issued an apology after calling Bardot her “inspiration.” Following backlash to her tribute for Bardot, Roan told followers, “Holy s--t, I did not know all that insane s--t Ms. Bardot stood for.” She added, “I do not condone this. Very disappointing to learn.”
In its obituary to Bardot, the French paper Le Monde said she “embodied racial hatred” and that she “remained, for three decades, an exception in French culture—the only celebrity to openly defend the far right.”
