Bernard d'Ormale denounces Hôtel Drouot auction of Brigitte Bardot personal items
Bernard d'Ormale called an upcoming Paris auction of more than 300 personal items belonging to the late French actress Brigitte Bardot scandalous, claiming she would have opposed the sale.
Dispute over Paris auction lots
Bernard d'Ormale, the 85-year-old widower of Brigitte Bardot, voiced opposition to an upcoming public sale of the late actress's personal belongings organized by her namesake foundation. The auction is set for Monday, 21 September 2026, at the Hôtel Drouot auction house in Paris, featuring more than 300 lots. According to d'Ormale, approximately three-quarters of the items originate from Bardot's Parisian apartment on rue de la Tour, while the remaining pieces were removed from her La Madrague residence in Saint-Tropez in the Var department. The catalog includes personal portraits, grooming items, a flamenco guitar, and a black tutu. Speaking to AFP on 19 September 2026 following initial comments in Var-Matin, d'Ormale characterized the auction as disrespectful to the memory of Bardot, who died on 28 December 2025. He argued that the foundation has ample real estate assets that could be sold instead if operational funds were required for its animal welfare programs.
These are intimate objects, and why have this sale? For the animals? It is a joke: the foundation owns buildings, it only has to sell one. It is a lack of respect for Brigitte's memory.
Disagreement over board authorization
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation disputed d'Ormale's characterization of the sale as unauthorized. A spokesperson for the animal protection organization stated that the foundation's board of directors voted unanimously in June 2026 to proceed with the auction. The spokesperson noted that d'Ormale himself voted in favor of the measure during his tenure as foundation president. In response, d'Ormale maintained that he did not understand at the time of the vote that intimate household items and personal mementos would be included in the catalog. He stated that he had been put before a fait accompli without being consulted on the specific items being cataloged, insisting that Bardot would never have agreed to the sale.
Brigitte certainly would not have agreed with this sale, she would have told them to get lost.
- Brigitte Bardot establishes the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for animal protection.
- Max Guazzini becomes administrator and secretary-general of the foundation.
- Brigitte Bardot dies, and Bernard d'Ormale assumes the foundation presidency.
- The foundation board votes unanimously to organize a public auction.
- The board terminates d'Ormale's presidency and elects Max Guazzini as president.
- Hôtel Drouot in Paris hosts the auction of over 300 personal lots.
Leadership change and access to La Madrague
The public controversy follows an administrative restructuring at the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, an animal welfare body established by the actress in 1986. On Wednesday, 16 September 2026, the board of directors voted to end d'Ormale's term as president, a position he had assumed following Bardot's death in December 2025. The board elected Max Guazzini, former president of the NRJ media group and foundation secretary-general since 2020, as the new president. While d'Ormale remains on the board as an administrator, he expressed frustration over restrictions on his access to the Saint-Tropez estate where he lived for 35 years. He maintained that the personal artifacts should have remained intact to display in the event that La Madrague is opened to public tours in the future.
