French actress, model, singer, and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot died at her home, “La Madrague,” in Saint-Tropez, French Riviera, on December 28. She was 91. Her cause of death remains undisclosed. However, she spent some time at the hospital in October for a “minor” procedure.Trigger warning: This article has references to racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and more. Discretion is advised.In the wake of her demise, American singer, songwriter, and LGBTQ+ activist Chappell Roan took to her Instagram Stories to pay tribute to Brigitte Bardot. Reposting an image from Vogue France’s IG post, Roan wrote:“She was my inspiration for red wine supernova. Rest in peace, Ms Bardot.”Red Wine Supernova is a famous 2023 song by Chappell Roan, which mentions Brigitte Bardot in the lyrics.“She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot/ She showed me things I didn't know/ She did it right there out on the deck/ Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck,” it reads.However, the tribute did not sit well with Chappell’s fanbase, who pointed out that Brigitte Bardot was seemingly racist and homophobic.For instance, her description of gay people as “fairground freaks” and “destruction of France” and attacking ethnic minorities with the excerpt “Islamization of the French society” in her 2003 book Un Cris dans le Silence or A Scream in the Silence, has often been deemed as controversial.In response to her followers asking her to take down her post praising Bardot, Roan, 27, retracted her tribute in a follow-up Instagram Story.“Holy sh*t, I did not know all that insane sh*t Ms Bardot stood for, obvs I do not condone this. Very disappointing to learn,” Chappell wrote.More about the controversies surrounding Brigitte BardotFollowing her comment about the LGBTQ+ community, Muslims, and school-teachers in her book over 22 years ago, Brigitte Bardot faced severe backlash. In response, she wrote a letter to the local French outlet Tribumove and mentioned that her life was surrounded by “homos.”“Apart from my husband — who maybe will cross over one day as well — I am entirely surrounded by homos. For years, they have been my support, my friends, my adopted children, my confidants.”Notably, Bardot was married four times, and here she was referring to her husband Bernard d’Ormale, whom she married in 1992 and was with until her recent demise.Her fourth marriage was also marred with controversy as d’Ormale was the former advisor to the French minister, founder of the right-wing Front National Party, and convicted racist, Jean-Marie Le Pen.Brigitte Bardot was also infamous for her inappropriate remarks about the Muslim immigrants in France. For instance, in her 1999 book Le Carre de Pluton or Pluto’s Square, she wrote:“My land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.”Following a public outrage, Bardot was fined 30,000 francs by a French court the following year. Elsewhere, she also drew criticism for negatively speaking about the ritualistic halal (sheep) slaughter during the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha and the kosher preparation by the Jewish community.According to The Guardian, Brigitte Bardot had six criminal convictions for seemingly inciting homophobic/ racial tension between 1997 and 2008. For instance, a Parisian court fined her 15,000 francs for calling France’s Islamic community:“This population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts.”This also includes the 2021 fine of 20,000 francs for calling the indigenous people of the La Reunion island “degenerate savages” in a 2019 comment. It was in reference to the tribe’s treatment of animals. La Réunion is an overseas French department in the Indian Ocean.Besides the legal consequence, Bardot was also called “irresponsible, outrageous, and contemptuous” by the then-President of La Réunion, Didier Robert. The politician also claimed that the letter his office received from Brigitte had terms that were “absolutely unacceptable.”The Viva Maria! actress also sparked controversy after she called the #MeToo movement “hypocritical, ridiculous, and uninteresting” during a 2018 interview with Paris Match magazine.“Many actresses flirt with producers to get a role. Then, when they tell the story afterwards, they say they have been harassed. In actual fact, rather than benefiting them, it only harms them… The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous.”Bardot added that she always felt “nice” to be recognized as “beautiful” or being told by male colleagues that she had a “pretty little a**.” According to the now-late French cultural icon, she took these comments as “compliments.”For the unaware, Brigitte Bardot rose to global fame and earned the nickname “S*x Kitten” with the 1956 film And God Created Woman, directed by her first husband and French filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Roger Vadim.Later, she retired in 1973 and became a full-time animal rights activist, far-right political commentator, wife, and mother to Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, whom she shared with her second husband and French film star Jacques Charrier. In her later years, she had a difficult relationship with her only child.