Gallic groups accuse Bardot of racism
Actress makes first TV spot in 10 years to defend book
|
The French Human Rights League (LDH) and the Movement Against Racism and For Friendship Between Peoples (MRAP) have condemned the former sex-symbol for calling the homeless "lazy profiteers," homosexuals "fair freaks" and interracial children "bastards" and railing against "the Islaminisation of France."
"Because racism is not an opinion but a violation of the law, the MRAP has decided to file suit against this xenophobic text and expects that the punishment will be equal to this incitation to hate," said MRAP president Mouloud Aounit.
The LDH said it will also file a suit against Bardot to have her book sanctioned.
Bardot defended her book on pubcaster France 3's culture program "You Can't Please Everyone" Monday night in her first TV appearance in 10 years.
"I won't make a mea culpa," Bardot told host Marc-Olivier Fogiel. "If I said these things, it's because I strongly believe in them."
Bardot has long been linked with the Front National, France's extreme right party, even if her more public cause has been the protection of animals.
The thesp, who has performed in more than 40 films including "And God Created . . . Woman" and "Contempt," is married to Bernard d'Ormale, a close friend of Front National topper Jean-Marie Le Pen, who Bardot calls "intelligent and charming."
Bardot was fined $3,300 in 2000 for slander and inciting racial hatred after she railed against the immigrant community in a 1997 article titled "Open Letter to my Lost France."
