Chappell Roan has clarified her position on the late Brigitte Bardot’s controversial views, saying she “doesn’t condone” Bardot’s beliefs despite namechecking her in the lyrics of ‘Red Wine Supernova’.
Roan paid tribute to the French cinema icon upon news of her death yesterday (December 28) at the age of 91, writing “Rest in peace Ms. Bardot,” and confirming she was the inspiration for ‘Red Wine Supernova’. Bardot is mentioned in the lines of the song’s first verse – “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot/ She showed me things I didn’t know/ She did it right there out on the deck/ Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck.”
Bardot was also known as a prolific animal rights activist, joining protests against seal hunts in 1977 and establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986. However, she was also accused of making racist comments several times and has been fined six times by French courts for “inciting racial hatred” with her writing.
In addition, she was criticised after accusing the female stars who spoke out as part of the #MeToo movement of being “hypocritical”.
Bardot is also a close friend of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front party, who was convicted of anti-Semitism, racism, and Holocaust denial in France. His daughter, far-right politician Marine Le Pen, now runs the party.
In response to criticism of her tribute, given Bardot’s controversial views are now becoming more widely known, Roan has established that she doesn’t condone the “insane shit” Bardot believed and was unaware of it.
“Holy shit i did not know all that insane shit Ms. Bardot stood for obvs I do not condone this,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
By contrast, Roan has shown considerable support for the queer and trans communities, launching her ‘Midwest Princess Project’ in October to help support organisations providing resources to trans youth and LGBTQ+ people.
In addition, while collecting the Grammy award for Best New Artist, she called out the music industry and “demanded that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”
In other news, Keith Urban covered Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ for the Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, leaving some fans of both artists confused.
