On Sunday, Brigitte Bardot died at the age of 91, with the French actor best known for playing sexually liberated roles in movies like …And God Created Woman and Contempt. However, in more recent years, Brigitte had become better known for her problematic behavior and beliefs.
To name just a few examples, Brigitte was found guilty of “inciting racial hatred” multiple times in France for her comments about Islam, and in 1992, she married Bernard d’Ormale, a former advisor to the far-right Front National (now known as National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen). She also ranted against the LGBTQ+ community in her 2003 book A Cry in the Silence, and previously called the #MeToo movement “hypocritical” and “ridiculous.”
And that is why people were left shocked when Chappell Roan posted an Instagram story honoring Brigitte following the news of her death, with the 27-year-old singer calling the star an “inspiration.” Chappell wrote at the time: “She was my inspiration for red wine supernova. Rest in peace Ms. Bardot.”
It’s worth mentioning that Brigitte being the inspo behind one of Chappell’s most popular songs, “Red Wine Supernova,” wasn’t exactly new information, considering she’s literally name-dropped in the track’s opening line, where Chappell sings: “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot / She showed me things I didn’t know.”
Still, fans were seriously unimpressed with Chappell’s eulogy considering Brigitte’s controversies — especially as “Red Wine Supernova” has become somewhat of a queer anthem since its 2023 release.
And as the backlash grew, Chappell took to her Instagram story once again, this time to admit that she’d been totally ignorant of Brigitte’s history when she wrote both the song and her tribute. “Holy shit i did not know all that insane shit Ms. Bardot stood for,” Chappell wrote. “obvs I do not condone this. very disappointing to learn.”
Initially, this post was met with a mixed reaction, with many calling Chappell out for referencing somebody in her song and calling them an “inspiration” without being fully informed. One popular tweet read: “how the hell are you calling someone your ‘inspiration’ when you don’t know a single thing about their history?”
“we need to normalize googling people before naming them in our work,” somebody else wrote. Another added: “the concept of being ‘inspired’ by someone and not knowing anything about them.”
But many have since sprung to Chappell’s defense, with one X user pointing out: “Idk why anyone’s confused. The inspiration she’s referencing is literally the line ‘she was a playboy, Bridgette bardot’. It’s jsut referencing Bardot being a hot 60s girl. It’s the first line of the song and none of you were scandalized before today bc you didn’t know either.”
“am i like not woke enough to actually think that this was a genuine mistake because i had absolutely no idea of what she did either and a lot of creatives more or less just take the aesthetics through pinterest and tumblr without much thought lol,” one viral post adds.
While another asked: “yall are so annoying bruh she literally apologized, what are we supposed to do? excommunicate her bc she didn’t read a wikipedia page?”
And over on a pop culture Reddit forum, Chappell was widely praised for publicly acknowledging her mistake. One comment, which has over 20,000 upvotes, reads: “People will still attack her for this but tbh I think she did the right thing here. She learned new info and corrected herself.”
What do you make of Chappell’s Instagram posts? Let me know in the comments below!