Brigitte Bardot Latest Woman To Criticize #MeToo, But What Is The Argument?

Legendary French actress Brigitte Bardot became the latest celebrity to slam the #MeToo movement, when she said Wednesday that the actresses who spoke against sexual harassment and assault did so to gain publicity.

During an interview with French magazine Paris Match, Bardot was asked about her opinion on actresses who opened up about their sexual harassment experiences.

Bardot said, “Regarding actresses, and not women in general, it is, in the vast majority of cases, hypocritical, ridiculous, without interest.”

She also stated she had “never been a victim of sexual harassment.”

“And I thought it was nice to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little a--. This kind of compliment is nice,” Bardot added.

With regards to actresses who complained about being sexually harassed, Bardot said, “But there are many actresses who make the naughty with producers to get a role. Then, to talk about them, they come to tell that they have been harassed. … In reality, rather than enjoy them, it hurts them.”

These comments from Bardot came some days after French actress Catherine Deneuve criticized the movement by saying it targeted men unfairly.

According to reports, Deneuve along with other women rights activists and French women celebrities, addressed the issue via an open letter. Their argument was that the “legitimate protest against sexual violence,” which originated from the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault cases, had traveled too far a distance and was threatening sexual freedoms of people.

The group also said men should get the “freedom to importune" and also made a stand against “puritanism.”

The #MeToo movement, which exposed numerous cases of sexual violence against women in the Hollywood industry, also faced another criticism from author Margaret Atwood in an article she wrote titled “Am I a bad feminist?”

In the article, Atwood talked about how she was portrayed as a bad feminist by critics after she defended a former professor of the University of British Columbia, Steve Galloway, who was accused of sexual assault and fired from his post regardless of the fact that he was cleared of the charges by the authorities.

She stated in the article, “In November of 2016, I signed — as a matter of principle, as I have signed many petitions — an Open Letter called UBC Accountable, which calls for holding the University of British Columbia accountable for its failed process in its treatment of one of its former employees, Steven Galloway, the former chair of the department of creative writing, as well as its treatment of those who became ancillary complainants in the case."

With relation to the #MeToo movement, Atwood said she was worried the movement might be transforming into a system of vigilante justice. She also claimed the movement was the result of a legal system that had failed.