Brigitte Bardot reportedly struggled with motherhood and later spoke about the difficult relationship she had with her son.

Bardot’s own life continued in Saint-Tropez with her fourth husband, Bernard d’Ormale, whom she married in 1992. They remained married until her death in 2025. By then, La Madrague had become inseparable from the public image of Bardot’s later years. Rather than film sets and international premieres, reports increasingly pictured her life around animals, the Mediterranean and the work of her foundation. The contrast with the young woman who had once dominated magazine covers could hardly have been greater. Yet Bardot never completely disappeared from public debate because she remained outspoken about the causes and opinions that mattered to her.

A complete and accurate account of Bardot’s later life also has to acknowledge that she became a highly controversial public figure. Her political associations and repeated statements about immigration, Muslims and other groups resulted in multiple convictions or fines under French laws concerning incitement to racial hatred. These controversies became an important part of the way Bardot was viewed in France and cannot simply be erased from a biography seeking factual balance. Admirers often focused on her cinema and animal activism, while critics pointed toward remarks they considered discriminatory and harmful. Both aspects existed within the same public figure. Her legacy is consequently much more complicated than the simple story of a beautiful actress who retired to save animals.

The complexity of that legacy became especially clear when Bardot died on December 28, 2025. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation officially announced the death of its founder and president. Bardot was 91 years old, not 88 as older versions of articles about her still state online. She died in Saint-Tropez, the place with which she had been associated for much of her adult life. Reuters described her death as the passing of an icon who had reshaped French cinema while also noting both her animal-rights activism and the controversies of her later political statements. The announcement prompted tributes from people who remembered very different versions of Bardot.