What to Know
When pop artist Chappell Roan took to social media to share a tribute to French film star Brigitte Bardot, some people were outraged. Though Brigitte, who died on December 28, 2025, is widely recognized as a film icon and sex symbol, she also spent many years supporting far-right politics and was convicted of inciting racial hatred five times. Chappell did not seem to be aware of this when she made her song “Red Wine Supernova,” or when she shared the tribute to Brigitte, which she later removed and explained.
Initially, Chappell recognized Brigitte for providing inspiration for her music.
Chappell’s song “Red Wine Supernova” references Brigitte with, “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot / She showed me things I didn’t know.” The song is, notably, not about Brigitte — Chappell just mentions her name. But still, when she shared her initial tribute on Instagram, she wrote, “Rest in peace Ms. Bardot. She was my inspiration for red wine supernova.”
This post triggered a lot of backlash. People couldn’t believe Chappell was expressing support for someone who held Islamophobic views, backed far-right politicians, incited racial hatred, was anti-immigration, and spoke out against the #MeToo movement, among other things.
Some people critical of the 27-year-old pop star said they were not surprised by this and claimed that “her activism’s always been fake.” One person on X wrote, “Chappell Roan posting that she was inspired by Brigitte Bardot, one of the most infamous racists and homophobes of all time, and people find it shocking?”
But Chappell later acknowledged her mistake.
In a follow-up post, Chappell denounced the views that Brigitte stood for and said she had no idea. “Holy s–t i did not know all that insane s–t Ms. Bardot stood for,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories. “obvs I do not condone this. very disappointing to learn.”
Reactions to Chappell’s updated post were mixed. Some people still insisted that Chappell should’ve known this information about Brigitte, especially because she referenced her in a song. “She basically said she was her inspiration so how do you call someone an inspiration without knowing things about them?” one critic on X wrote.
Others defended Chappell, saying the song was clearly not endorsing Brigitte’s politics.
The Chappell Roan/Brigitte Bardot discourse feels so performative. It seems quite obvious to me that it was Bardot's status as a sex symbol that inspired Red Wine Supernova, rather than anything she said or believed.
— aimée 🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@sapphyreblayze) December 29, 2025
“The Chappell Roan/Brigitte Bardot discourse feels so performative,” an X user wrote. “It seems quite obvious to me that it was Bardot’s status as a sex symbol that inspired Red Wine Supernova, rather than anything she said or believed.”
Some fans were satisfied with how Chappell addressed the situation. “People will still attack her for this but tbh I think she did the right thing here. She learned new info and corrected herself,” a Redditor wrote. Another person added, “People aren’t encyclopedias, they don’t know everything, what matters is what you do if you learn new information.”
Many others admitted that they didn’t know about Brigitte’s beliefs until after her death. On X, someone else said, “Gonna go ahead and guess a lot of the people mad at Chappell Roan for not knowing Brigitte Bardot was a racist had just found out Brigitte Bardot was a racist about ten minutes before her.”
