Brigitte Bardot is dead, her charity organization. The iconic 20th century star, who tarnished her legacy in her later years through racist remarks, was 91.
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Bardot rose to fame as a model and actress, becoming a sex symbol as she rose to fame in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. She starred in movies just as Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt and the Oscar-nominated Henri-Georges Clouzot picture La Vérité (a.k.a. The Truth).
She also found success is the music industry, mainly through her work with iconic French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The pair, who were once romantically involved, recorded several songs together in the ’60s, including the hit “Bonnie and Clyde.”
She would make headlines in recent years for six separate convictions for “inciting racial hatred,” per the Le Figaro. Among the instances, she called people of the the Reunionese region “savages” and attacked the Muslim faith and the Hindu Tamil community.
Bardot would often make her racist remarks through the guise of animal rights, as she was a highly-regarded figure in that sphere. She founded Fondation Brigitte Bardot, a charitable organization that has done incredible work towards protecting animal populations around the globe.
The foundation initially broke the news of Bardot’s death, sharing a statement lauding its founder’s contributions to animal rights causes.
“Fondation Brigitte Bardot announces with great sadness the death of its Founder and President, Madame Brigitte Bordot, internationally-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to devote her life and energy to animal protection and to her Foundation,” the statement read. “In 1962, while only 28 years old, Brigitte Bardot marks the minds by participating in the iconic show 5 Columns at One to demand that animals be dazed before slaughtering, demonstrating her early commitment.
“A true trailblazer, at 39 she renounces ramp fires and the artistic world to put her notoriety and determination to the service of animals and the most vulnerable, such as the elderly. She goes on the bank in 1977 to help baby seals, an emblematic act of her fight to protect vulnerable species
“Under her drive, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, founded in 1986, becomes a major actor in animal protection in France and around the world. Forty years later, it has more than 12,000 animals collected in the ‘Arche de BB,’ actions in 70 countries, 4 shelters, 300 employees, hundreds of volunteers and 40,000 donors.”
The statement went on to ensure backers that its efforts will not stop due to her passing, noting, “The Foundation will continue, more than ever, to carry the work of Brigitte Bardot.”