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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Esther Addley

Sex object, animal rights activist, racist: the paradox that was Brigitte Bardot

A graphic of a silhouette of Bardot's face over the top of the actor in an off-the-shoulder top

Brigitte Bardot inspired many fantasies, from the wanton, panting reveries of assorted French auteurs in the 1950s and 60s, to the perky-nippled bust created in 1969 as a model for Marianne, the embodiment of the French Republic itself.

With her death on 28 December, another more contemporary Bardot illusion was shattered. The singer Chappell Roan, responding to Bardot’s passing at 91, posted a photo of the actor in her beehived prime on Instagram, saying she had inspired her song Red Wine Supernova and writing": “Rest in peace Ms Bardot.”

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