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Chappell Roan Removes Bardot Tribute Post After Learning of Racist and Anti-LGBTQ+ Views
Chappell Roan is setting the record straight on a tribute she wishes she’d looked into more closely.
After posting a simple “Rest in peace Ms. Bardot” message on Sunday following Brigitte Bardot’s death, the “Red Wine Supernova” singer quickly removed the post once fans pointed out the late French icon’s decades-long history of far-right rhetoric and hateful remarks.
“Holy shit I did not know all that insane shit Ms. Bardot stood for,” Roan wrote on her Instagram Story after deleting the tribute. “Obvs I do not condone this. Very disappointing to learn.”
Roan had credited the And God Created Woman star as inspiration for her 2023 hit “Red Wine Supernova,” even opening the track with, “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot / She showed me things I didn’t know.” Bardot’s glamour and sexual liberation made her a defining figure in the ‘50s and ‘60s — but Roan’s understanding of the actress stopped there.
It wasn’t long before Roan learned that Bardot’s cinematic legacy had long been overshadowed by her public views. After retiring from acting in the early ‘70s, Bardot became an outspoken animal rights activist — but her advocacy was repeatedly eclipsed by comments that targeted marginalized communities. In her 2003 memoir, she disparaged LGBTQ+ people and claimed France was being overtaken by Islam. Courts ultimately fined her five separate times for inciting racial hatred.
Bardot aligned herself with far-right politicians including Marine Le Pen, regularly condemned Muslim immigrants and sparked international backlash for comparing homosexuality to pedophilia. In one passage of her book A Cry in the Silence, she referred to gay people as “cheap f***ts or circus freaks” and suggested the community should remain closeted as they were “in the 50s and 60s.”
Her inflammatory takes didn’t stop there. Speaking to Paris Match in 2018, Bardot dismissed the #MeToo movement altogether, saying allegations against predatory men were “hypocritical.” “Many actresses flirt with producers to get a role,” she claimed, arguing the movement “only harms them.”
For Roan — who’s been outspoken about creating safe, joyful spaces for queer fans — Bardot’s views are the antithesis of everything she stands for. During a show in Los Angeles last fall, the singer, who identifies as a lesbian, told the crowd, “There’s so many things in the world that are so ‘f** you’ and like, then there is this. The only thing that matters anymore is joy to me. And protecting that, and peace and safety.”
She continued, “You’re cherished for everything that you are. Even if you’re not queer, I hope you know that I include you. This isn’t just for the gays.”
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