"A video filmed last week showed Macron in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergere theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comedian who was previously accused of rape. She was attending his show with her daughter and some friends. The previous night, feminist campaigners had disrupted the show, shouting: Abittan, rapist! Macron, 72, asked Abittan how he was feeling. When he said he was feeling scared, she referred to the protesters as sales connes (stupid bitches) and said if they reappeared we'll toss them out."
"Magistrates terminated the investigation of the 2021 rape allegation against Abittan in 2024 due to a lack of evidence to bring it to trial. That decision was confirmed on appeal in January this year. The feminist campaign group Nous Toutes (All of Us) who took part in the theatre protest said its activists had disrupted Abittan's show to protest against what it described as the culture of impunity around sexual violence in France."
"I am sorry if I hurt women victims, Macron told the media outlet Brut this week, calling the remarks that were caught on video 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"
Brigitte Macron is the subject of a public-insult legal complaint filed by 343 women and several organisations after a video captured her using the phrase sales connes (stupid bitches) about feminist protesters at the Folies Bergere. The incident occurred backstage while she attended a show by Ary Abittan, who faced a 2021 rape allegation later dropped for lack of evidence. Protesters had disrupted the performance to denounce a perceived culture of impunity around sexual violence. Macron apologized to victims but said she could not regret private remarks, asserting her individual identity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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