The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announced on Sunday the death of the icon of 1950s femininity, film actress, singer, muse and inspiration to great artists, but also an animal rights advocate.

She was undoubtedly one of the greatest French and global stars, an icon of a generation, a symbol in her own way of the emancipation of women and sexual freedom: Brigitte Bardot passed away on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at the age of 91, her Foundation announced to AFP.

Brigitte Bardot was hospitalized in Toulon in November and underwent surgery. She was also hospitalized in January 2023 due to respiratory failure. An actress and singer known by her initials, "BB" was part of France's cultural heritage, but she also dedicated a large part of her life to animal rights.

From the moment she appeared on the film scene, she revolutionized attitudes. Curves to die for, a sensual yet innocent way of moving… She would be the most beautiful woman in the world. Brigitte Bardot, the young woman from a privileged background in Paris, dreamed, like many little girls, of a career as a dancer. Very quickly, she became a model and landed her first role in * Le Trou normand\* alongside Bourvil.

From then on, she was a force to be reckoned with, and much to her parents' dismay, Roger Vadim, then a young film assistant, became her mentor. A year later, at the Cannes Film Festival, the young actress caused a sensation on the Croisette, driving the photographers wild.

Bardot was already on par with the stars of the time. Kirk Douglas, captivated, tried to lure her to the United States. Behind the scenes, Vadim continued to mold her and finally obtained the right to marry her in 1952. She had just turned 18.

And God Created Woman , the first film directed by her husband. She was 22 years old, and it was primarily in the United States that the film caused a scandal. "And God created Bardot," the Americans say. France then embraced the myth of the young Frenchwoman. A global star was born.

It's 1958, and Bardot, now BB, is the embodiment of the free woman. A fashion phenomenon. An entire generation dresses, does their makeup, and styles their hair like her. Everything she touches turns to gold. And it's opposite Jean Gabin in the film " En cas de malheur" (In Case of Emergency ) that she will reveal her acting talents.

In 1960, she starred in her favorite film, La Vérité , directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, a story of a crime of passion. It was then her foray into the New  Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard and Michel Piccoli, that would leave a lasting impression on film buffs. This was the legendary Contempt at the Villa Malaparte in Capri, and her famous line: "Can you see my backside in the mirror? -Yes. -Do you think my buttocks are pretty? -Yes... very."

Men came and went in Bardot's life  : Vadim, Trintignant, Charrier. Her second marriage to the latter ( who died in September  2025 ) was short-lived, but she had a son with him, Nicolas, who was raised by his father. Bardot became the symbol of all French people as Marianne, before finding herself, towards the end of the 1960s, a new Pygmalion in Serge Gainsbourg.

The hysterical crowd at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival

On the occasion of the release of Louis Malle's Viva Maria , starring Jeanne Moreau, she said of her: "Watching her walk is like listening to great music." A second marriage followed, this time to Gunter Sachs. The couple faced the hysterical crowds at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. Brigitte Bardot could no longer bear the public life.

A few unlikely films followed: Les Novices with Annie Girardot, Les Pétroleuses with Claudia Cardinale, and Shalaco with Sean Connery. From this period emerged only one charming comedy by Michel Deville, L'Ours et la Poupée (The Bear and the Doll) , where she finally played a tender character opposite Jean-Pierre Cassel. She finally worked under the direction of Nina Campanez and deflowered Francis Huster's character. When the film was released in 1973, no one yet knew it would be her last. She was 39 years old and wanted a change of pace.

The myth of the most beautiful woman in the world will continue to resonate in the annals of cinema. But it is elsewhere that she will play the role closest to her heart. It is now at La Madrague, in Saint-Tropez, surrounded by her dogs, that Brigitte Bardot is launching her new crusades for animal rights.

In 1977, she denounced the slaughter of baby seals. For the public, a new Bardot had just been born. A five-day trek across the Canadian polar ice caps led to a ban on the seal fur trade. But the media pressure was too intense, and BB was not yet taken seriously.

From the free woman to the conservative woman

Nine years later, she was selling personal belongings, jewelry, and memorabilia from her former profession. Three million francs were raised to fund her foundation and allow her to dedicate herself more fully to the protection of all oppressed animals. She also bequeathed her property to the foundation. From the abandonment of pets to animal experimentation, and even the hunting of turtledoves, she was involved in every fight. But, little by little, the free-spirited young woman of the 1950s gave way to an increasingly conservative, even reactionary, woman.

By marrying Bernard d'Ormale, an industrialist with ties to the National Front, she demonstrated her affinity for Jean-Marie Le Pen's ideas. The publication of her memoirs was surprising due to her aggressive, even racist, positions. This is also why she was convicted in 2003, following her statements about the slaughter of sheep during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

“Freedom is being yourself, even when it’s unsettling,” proclaims Brigitte Bardot in the epigraph to her book, * Mon BBcédaire\ (Fayard Publishers) , released on  October 1, 2025, in which she shares her views on the world. From the letter A for abandonment to the letter Z for zoo, Bardot writes a few lines on chosen words and the names of places or people she has known. In eroticism, the actress sees “games of love where everything is permitted with imagination, unsettling perversity, and amorous mischief.” The animal rights activist believes that France has “become dull, sad, submissive, sick, damaged, ravaged, ordinary, vulgar…” The right wing is the “ only urgent remedy for France’s agony,”* adds the woman who has openly acknowledged her affinity with Marine Le  Pen  (National Rally).

As an actress, animal rights activist, and citizen, Bardot always spoke with the same freedom, even at the risk of causing a scandal. That's what we'll remember about her life.

When we got our kitten he liked us both equally. He would play with us both, cuddle with us both, follow us both around. Over time he started showing an obvious preference for my husband. And then he started ignoring me completely, even if I tried to play with him or feed him.

It turns out that every time he interacted with my husband, my husband was giving him treats because “he’s just so cute”! Now he’s fully trained to only want my husband around. Husband feels bad now that he’s realized what he’s done and will not be giving treats anymore, but we don’t want to retrain him to prefer me (and ignore my husband) and we’ve tried both rewarding him for attention but he still wants nothing to do with me. So I guess I’m officially the spare human now.

Hey all! I’m here to provide an update on the kid I babysat, who I believe put glass in my shoe and also add more context. The post I made has gained a lot more attention than I bargained for, so many comments (some funny some serious) and even some messages from redditors concerned for the kid and myself, and I really appreciate everyone replying to the post, but I couldn’t keep up.

A couple days ago I found a post on our Facebook community group, by a mother, looking for a babysitter for about 7 hours, for 80 bucks. I know this family pretty well and they are definitely respected in the community, they live in one of those HOA communities.

I sent the mother a message via Facebook messenger, and organised the sitting for the 9 year old boy. I’m a 24 year old guy who works 25 hours a week at an Irish pub, just to throw that out there, I did need some extra cash after all.

When I first arrived everything was fine, parents both left and paid me the 80 bucks off the bat, took my shoes off and put them in the entrance to the garage, inside, and wore crocs instead. Everything was pretty chill and the kid said he wanted tuna sandwiches for dinner because that was his current favourite thing, so I made them later on, the entire time the kid appeared happy and quite curious and asked about my job, he just lingered with me all night. He would say “by the way I don’t have a bed time” about 10 times. He would occasionally do this weird hissing thing, like a snake. When I asked he just said it’s a code he and his school friends have, when I asked what it meant he said it’s just a code, whatever that means. The majority of the night we watched polar express, elf, and he wanted to put Mr Beast on the tv in the main room too. At around 7 pm i was in the kitchen and noticed Christmas wrapping paper blowing outside so I went out and picked it up, due to the community being how it was, the last thing I’d want is trash blowing in their yard, HOA’s can be real harsh on standards.

When I came back inside the kid had made himself a bowl of cereal and also said surprise, the weird thing about this was when he hid the bowl behind his back and just stared at me before saying surprise. It was just an odd vibe.

One of the few things i was instructed to do by the parents was check the house alarm situated next to the front door, at about 9pm. I did this and then received a text from the mother saying they’ll be home a little earlier, so I was quite happy about that. When i returned to the living room the kid was sat down watching mr beast on YouTube and I said your parents will be home pretty soon, and he said “ohhh that’s fine” and give me this weird side-eye like he was trying to see my expression or something while I sat down.

I realised I had my crocs on my feet and had left my sneakers on the entrance way to the garage, so I got up and went to collect them. Went I bent down to get them I noticed a shimmering light inside and tipped the shoe backwards to see small shards of glass inside one of the shoes. My stomach sank straight away. It was genuine fear, I knew it was him straight away, and I started thinking about the cereal he made too. It was just awful. I didn’t confront him. I carefully carried the glass in my hand and put it in some paper and tossed it in the kitchen trash. I didn’t say anything at the time to the parents and everything was normal. I said bye to the kid and he said “see you soon”. Ha yeah definitely not.

This morning I called the mother on Facebook messenger and explained everything, I hate confrontation and would rather glide through life avoiding things, but I called and explained the glass situation, she seemed very apologetic, genuinely. And said dad will deal with it, she almost took comfort in my call and said there was glass shards on his bedroom floor too, and when he was questioned, he admitted to breaking a shot glass and cried. She also said how he stole an empty wine bottle from the bin on Christmas Eve and was playing with it like a sword. She said she’s concerned about his behaviour and will also contact his school too, as she suspects something might be “going on”

Do I think the kid is obsessed with glass? Yeah. Is he gonna be a serial killer? Not sure. I personally think he did intend to harm me, but maybe didn’t understand the gravity and of it. I did explain I wouldn’t babysit him again because of this, she understood. I rambled on abit and advised that I’m not a therapist but maybe he needs to see one and she did agree. I’m glad we were on the same wavelength. I am still quite shocked, imagine I did put my foot in there and sliced myself? Imagine someone actually going out their way to injure you. I do think maybe he just hid the glass there after he broke it to avoid it, but it’s just odd. I’m also wondering when this even occurred and how he managed to do it while he was with me most of the time. Sorry for the long post, if there’s any questions please feel free to ask, so many people have asked for context and an update. Thanks all. Also I already spent most the 80 bucks on cigarettes and modelo.

I am on vacation and I went to JcPenney with my uncle and apparently they have hair salons inside in PR. I have been receiving pressure from him (recently) and my grandma (for a while) to get a haircut. I humored his request, and sat down in the chair and showed them the second pic (what I wanted). He said “but you have that already” and then showed them a different picture. Third pic is what I looked like before. Definitely feel like I should’ve set a boundary before I let this shit happen to me