Film icon Brigitte Bardot has called for calm following reports that she had been rushed to hospital twice in one month and that animals (ducks, geese, goats, a donkey) were being moved from her estate at La Garrigue, near to Saint-Tropez, to other refuges. Update: Brigitte Bardot dies at 91.
The 91-year-old reassured her genuine fans through a statement on the Brigitte Bardot Foundation (FBB). In a firmly-worded message, singling out certain journalists from local newspapers Var Matin and Nice Matin, the Foundation said it wished to clarify the facts.
“Moving animals is an integral part of the FBB’s day-to-day operations at all sites where its animals are housed, in full agreement with the Foundation’s President. These transfers have no connection whatsoever with Brigitte Bardot’s health.
“The number of animals involved is explained solely by the failure of the guardian of the Garrigue, noted by veterinarians,” said the Foundation.
Reminding the public and press that rumours like this are not useful when one is trying to recuperate, the Foundation said: “Furthermore, in response to the spread of false information in recent days, Brigitte Bardot reminds everyone that she is currently recovering, that she would like people to have the courtesy to respect her privacy, and invites everyone to calm down.”
Ms Bardot also reassured those who are genuinely worried about her and shared the following message: “I send you all my love!”
Brigitte Bardot shot to worldwide fame after starring in Roger Vadim’s ‘And God Created Woman’. The movie, which was filmed in Saint-Tropez in the ’50s, turned both the fishing village and Bardot into global icons.
But, shocking the world, Bardot quit her film career and moved to Saint-Tropez at the height of her success, when she was just 39. She was driven by a passion and commitment to protect animals and fight for their rights, and in 1986 she founded the Brigitte Bardot Animal Foundation for this purpose.
This exceptional commitment to animal welfare, her “powerful decision” to leave movies and devote over 40 years of her life to this cause, is the subject of a documentary, Bardot. The film about Brigitte Bardot’s life will have its premier in Saint-Tropez on Wednesday 3 December 2025, and be screened around France.
Saint-Tropez Tourism says: “Having lived in Saint-Tropez for over half a century, Bardot has found a genuine refuge here, an intimate connection that the documentary explores with sensitivity.”
