PARIS — Brigitte Macron was facing criticism on Tuesday after video emerged of her using a slur to denounce feminist protesters.

The scene filmed Sunday showed France’s first lady in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and humorist 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, Brigitte Macron asked him how he was feeling. When he said he was feeling scared, she made a derogatory and sexist reference to the women, adding: “We’ll toss them out.”

Her office said in a statement that she'd been trying to calm his nerves: “As the video shows, Mrs. Macron’s only intention was to reassure

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