The French actress became a controversial figure later in life due to her criticisms of the #MeToo movement and several instances of “inciting racial hatred.”

Brigitte Bardot, model and French New Wave actress, dies at 91

The French actress became a controversial figure later in life due to her criticisms of the #MeToo movement and several instances of "inciting racial hatred."

Kyle Fowle

Kyle Fowle is a freelance writer at **. He joined EW in 2015.

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and Shania Russell

Shania Russell

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December 28, 2025 10:48 a.m. ET

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Brigitte Bardot dies at 91. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Brigitte Bardot, the controversial French actress who became one of the most popular screen icons to come out of the French New Wave, has died. She was 91.

On Sunday, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation announced the news in a statement shared with several new agencies, including BBC and French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation," the statement read.

Brigitte Bardot Invited For A Meeting On The Environment With French President Nicolas Sarkozy, At The Elysee Palace In Paris, France On September 27, 2007; Publicity portrait of French actress Brigitte Bardot, 1963.

Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty; John Kisch Archive/Getty

Representatives for Bardot did not immediately respond to **'s request for comment.

No cause of death or specific date was provided. News of Bardot's death comes weeks after the retired actress underwent surgery in October "as part of a serious illness." French newspaper *Var-matin* reported that she received three weeks of hospital treatment. The nature of the illness was not disclosed. That same month, Bardot dispelled rumors of her death, writing on social media, "I am doing well and I have no plan on taking my bow."

Born in Paris, France, on Sept. 28, 1934, Bardot’s childhood would suggest she was always a star in the making. She studied ballet at the Conservatoire de Paris and by 15 she was modeling and landing magazine covers such as *Elle*. Eventually, her photos attracted interest from film directors, and before long Bardot was thrust into the French cinema scene. She had numerous small roles early in her career, but it was her late 1950s work with director and eventual husband Roger Vadim, who she married at just 18 years old, that thrust her into the spotlight. She shined as the troubled but charming schoolgirl in the musical *Naughty Girl* before gaining more mainstream fame when Vadim’s directorial debut *And God Created Woman* — which stars Bardot as a rebellious, sexually adventurous teenager — was a hit not only in France but also internationally.

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Bardot became one of the most notable sex symbols of the ‘50s and ‘60s, as she often played sensual, sexually promiscuous characters, including roles in Jean-Luc Godard’s *Contempt* and *Masculin Féminin*, two of the French New Wave’s most acclaimed films. Her persona embodied the sexual liberation of the 1960s, and as a model and actress she was a tremendous influence in the world of fashion and pop culture. She’s often cited as a major force behind the popularization of the bikini after she was photographed wearing one while on the beach at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953, and the Bardot Neckline — where a shirt or dress is worn with both shoulders exposed — was named after her.

In 1973, after numerous film roles and a brief musical career where she mostly collaborated with French musician Serge Gainsbourg, Bardot — then 39 — announced she was retiring from acting. From then on she was known as a fierce animal rights activist.

Brigitte Bardot visits her dog refuge "The Nice Dogs" of Carnoules in 2001 in Paris, France.

Charly Hel/Prestige/Getty

But Bardot’s legacy is not without blemishes, as the actress was mired in several controversies over the years. She often found herself under public scrutiny for anti-immigrant statements and showing support for far-right politicians such as France’s Marine Le Pen.

Bardot criticized the #MeToo movement in 2018, proclaiming that women were only hurting themselves by speaking out against sexual harassment and that she had never been a victim of sexual harassment herself. In a *Paris Match* magazine interview that year, Bardot said that for actresses, the vast majority of cases are "hypocritical, ridiculous, and uninteresting." She explained she felt that actresses often flirt with producers in a bid to nab acting roles, but then say they were "harassed" to get people talking.

"In reality, rather than helping them, it hurts them," she said of the movement. “Me, I was never the victim of sexual harassment, and I found it charming when I was told that I was beautiful or I had a nice little backside,” she said. “This kind of compliment is nice.”

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Over the years, the actress was also fined for multiple instances for thousands of dollars apiece for "inciting racial hatred," criticizing groups such as the Reunionese and the Hindu Tamil community with handwritten letters containing racial slurs. These incidents date back to 2008, when Bardot went to trial for using racial slurs against Muslims. Bardot also maligned members of the LGBTQ+ community in her 2003 book *Un Cri Dans Le Silence* *(A Scream in the Silence)*, claiming they "put their little fingers in the air and with their little castrato voices moan about what those ghastly heteros put them through."

While Bardot's career as an actress lasted just two decades, she undoubtedly leaves behind a cultural and cinematic — though sometimes problematic — legacy.

She is survived by her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, and two grandchildren.**

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