French celebrities and politicians on the left have expressed outrage after Brigitte Macron was filmed using a derogatory and sexist slur to describe feminist protesters at a theatre show in Paris.

A video filmed on Sunday showed France’s first lady in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comedian previously accused of rape, before a performance he was about to give. The previous night, feminist campaigners had disrupted his show with shouts of: “Abittan, rapist!”

Before Sunday’s performance, Macron asked him how he was feeling. When he said he was feeling scared, she referred to the protesters as “sales connes” (dirty or stupid bitches) and adding that if they reappeared, “we’ll toss them out”.

Her office said in a statement that she had been trying to calm his nerves: “As the video shows, Mrs Macron’s only intention was to reassure an artist who, in his dressing room before going on stage, had just told her: ‘I’m scared’ because his show had been disrupted the previous evening.

“In no way is she attacking a cause. She does, however, disapprove of the radical methods used to prevent an artist from performing on stage, as was the case on Saturday night.”

The feminist campaign group Nous Toutes (“All of Us”) said its activists had disrupted Abittan’s show to protest against what it described as “the culture of impunity” around sexual violence in France.

Magistrates terminated the investigation of the 2021 rape allegation against Abittan in 2024 due to lack of evidence, a decision confirmed on appeal in January this year, according to French media.

In a statement on Instagram, Nous Toutes said: “We denounce venues that roll out a red carpet for men accused of rape, normalising sexist and sexual violence. It is a public insult to the victims. Victims, we believe you. Rapists, we do not forgive you!”

Politicians on the left criticised the use of a sexist slur and some said Brigitte Macron should apologise. The former Socialist president François Hollande told RTL radio: “There’s a problem of vulgarity.” The Green leader, Marine Tondelier, said the comments were “extremely serious” and should not have been made by a first lady.

Several celebrities voiced support for the feminist campaigners by adopting the insult for themselves with the hashtag #salesconnes. The actor and director Judith Godrèche, a leading voice in France’s #MeToo movement who has filed complaints against two film directors for sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager, posted on social media: “Me too – I’m also a salle conne (dirty, stupid bitch) and I support all the others.”

The singer and actor Camélia Jordana posted a picture of herself with #saleconne across her forehead.

The Green senator Mélanie Vogel posted on social media: “And a very good day to all the stupid bitches of our country,” while the secretary general of the moderate CFDT trade union, Marylise Léon, said the comments were “inappropriate and crude”.

On the French far right, however, the National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy said Brigitte Macron’s comments had been made in private. “If each of us were filmed backstage saying things with friends, I think there would be plenty to comment on,” he told the broadcaster BFMTV. “All of this is very hypocritical.”