British News Agency

France’s First Lady appeared in footage in which she called the women who disrupted Ary Abittan’s theatre show in Paris “sales connes” (stupid bitches).

In a video filmed on Sunday, the First Lady is seen speaking backstage at Paris’s Folies Bergère theatre with French actor and comedian Ary Abittan, who had previously been accused of rape. The night before, feminist activists had disrupted his show, shouting “Abittan, rapist!”.

Before Sunday’s performance, Macron asked him how he was feeling. When he said he was afraid, she described the women protesters as “dirty or stupid bitches” and added that “if they show up again, we’ll throw them out”.

In a statement from Macron’s office, it was said that she had been trying to calm the artist’s nerves: “As can be seen in the video, Mrs Macron’s sole aim was to reassure an artist who told her in the dressing room, ‘I’m scared’, because his show had been disrupted the previous evening.”

The feminist campaign group Nous Toutes (“All of Us”) said its activists had blocked Abittan’s show to protest against the “culture of impunity” surrounding sexual violence in France.

According to French media, the investigation into the rape allegation brought against Abittan in 2021 was closed in 2024 due to a lack of evidence, and that decision was upheld on appeal in January this year.

In a statement on Instagram, Nous Toutes said:

“We condemn venues that roll out the red carpet for men accused of rape and that normalise sexist and sexual violence. This is an open insult to victims. To the victims, we believe you. To the rapists, we do not forgive you!”