Brigitte Bardot made a series of controversial and often offensive remarks about gay people, especially in her 2003 book Un cri dans le silence (A Scream in the Silence). She also tried to defend herself by saying many of her closest friends were gay and that she was not homophobic, which only added to the public debate around her views.

What she actually said

  • In her 2003 book, Bardot contrasted her close gay friends with other homosexuals she mocked as people who “jiggle their bottoms, put their little fingers in the air and with their little castrato voices moan about what those ghastly heteros put them through.”
  • She also described some contemporary homosexuals as behaving like “fairground freaks,” wording widely criticized as demeaning and homophobic.
  • In the same period, she attacked Gay Pride events, saying that some participants “ridiculize” their sexuality and “marginalize” themselves by parading in ways she saw as excessive or exhibitionist.

How she tried to defend herself

  • Bardot later wrote to a French gay magazine insisting that “homosexuals are for me people like the others with their qualities and faults, among whom are my best friends.”
  • She stressed that, apart from her husband, she was “entirely surrounded by homos,” calling them her “support,” “friends,” “adopted children,” and “confidants,” and ended her letter with “Homosexuals, my friends forever, I love you! Stay as you are and keep accepting me as I am with my worst and my best.”
  • Despite this, she opposed adoption by gay couples, calling it “prejudicial” and saying children should be raised by a man–woman couple, a stance that fed ongoing criticism of her as hostile to LGBTQ+ rights.

Why this became a trending topic

  • Bardot’s comments have resurfaced repeatedly in media and forums whenever debates about homophobia, “cancel culture,” or the legacy of older stars come up, especially as she was already known for other inflammatory statements about immigrants and minorities.
  • After her later-life interviews and public controversies, many online discussions frame her as a symbol of the clash between old-guard celebrity attitudes and contemporary views on LGBTQ+ dignity and equality.

Bottom line: she claimed to love and be surrounded by gay friends, but the language she used in public—calling some gays “fairground freaks” and mocking stereotyped mannerisms—has been widely seen as insulting and homophobic, and that contradiction is exactly what keeps the topic alive in forums and “latest news” discussions today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.