Overview
- Backstage at Ary Abittan’s show, Brigitte Macron was recorded calling feminist activists “sales connes,” a remark her entourage frames as criticism of disruptive tactics.
- Bestimage, the people-photo agency that shot the footage, acknowledged an internal error in sending the clip to tabloids without checking audio.
- Celebrities and activists reclaimed the insult with hashtags such as #salesconnes and #jesuisunesaleconne, posting messages of solidarity with victims of sexual violence.
- Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon urged critics to “leave Brigitte Macron alone,” while Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet called the vocabulary “indigne” and stressed both presumption of innocence and feminist causes.
- The group Les Tricoteuses hystériques says lawyers are preparing a complaint, as debate continues over protests targeting Abittan, whose rape case ended in a non-lieu confirmed on appeal.