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Brigitte Bardot has issued a statement on social media to dispel rumors that she died. The 91-year-old took to X on Oct. 22, writing in French, “I don’t know which fool launched this fake news tonight about my passing, but rest assured that I’m doing well.”
In the post, Bardot added that she has “no intention of taking my leave.” The statement was published as a straightforward post, though almost all of the retired actress and model’s previous posts have been photographs of handwritten notes. Prior to the death debunking, Bardot shared a note celebrating her birthday.
Last week, Bardot returned to her home in Saint-Tropez, France, after spending three weeks in the hospital for a minor surgery and a “serious illness,” her press office reported at the time. It marked a rare update about her health. In 2023, it was reported that Saint-Tropez emergency services visited her home after she began to experience breathing problems.
On the rare occasion that Bardot has been in the news in her post-acting life (she retired in 1973 to focus on animal rights activism), it has primarily been related to recent stains on her legacy. In recent decades, she has taken controversial public stances on immigration and Muslims, in addition to referring to the #MeToo movement as “hypocritical, ridiculous and uninteresting.” Bardot has also been accused of making racist comments several times and has been fined six times by French courts for “inciting racial hatred” with her writing.
A documentary about Bardot, Alain Berliner’s Bardot, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. “She insists very much that she likes men, and she’s not against them,” Berliner told Variety. “She does not want to be considered a feminist, even though she has lived like one. And I think that’s proof of the fact that Bardot is a free-thinker.”
