Brigitte Bardot Foundation Evicts Late Actress Widower from Saint-Tropez Villa
Bernard d'Ormale found himself locked out of La Madrague following a dispute with the animal welfare organization led by Max Guazzini.
The widower of late French actress Brigitte Bardot was locked out of his long-time home in Saint-Tropez after the Brigitte Bardot Foundation took control of the property. Bernard d'Ormale discovered the change on Sunday, October 25, when he returned from getting coffee to find the front gate replaced by a wooden panel bearing a construction notice.
When d'Ormale asked a security guard for his belongings, he was handed only a small cardholder containing Bardot's health card, while his bank card and personal documents were missing. That evening, local authorities provided him with an apartment. The mayor of Saint-Tropez subsequently offered him social housing, which d'Ormale declined because he considered it too small, according to reporting by El Mundo.
Bernard d'Ormale, an 85-year-old businessman with past ties to the National Front as an advisor to Jean-Marie Le Pen in the 1980s, married Bardot in 1992 shortly after meeting her. The couple continually resided in La Madrague, a 35,000-square-meter villa that the actress ultimately left to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in her will. Established in 1986, the NGO focuses on animal protection, operating shelters and sanctuaries while lobbying the French government and European institutions.
Following Bardot's death, d'Ormale initially assumed the presidency of the foundation. However, the board of directors removed him from the post in September. Although d'Ormale lived in the villa under a right of usufruct, the foundation stated that Bardot's will stipulated that all residents must leave La Madrague six months after her passing so the estate could be transformed into a museum to generate revenue for animal care.
The foundation noted that Bardot had arranged alternative living conditions for her partner, granting him the use of a two-story apartment with a private garden in an upscale neighborhood of Paris's 16th arrondissement. However, d'Ormale decided to sell that property, a decision that became a central point of friction between him and the new leadership.
Max Guazzini, an attorney and former president of the NRJ radio group whom Bardot appointed as administrator and general secretary in 2020, explained the rationale behind the eviction. Guazzini argued that allowing d'Ormale to continue residing in a foundation property while serving on its board of directors created a conflict of interest.
Further tensions arose in September following an auction in Paris featuring 285 personal objects of Bardot's, which raised 954,000 euros. D'Ormale contended that neither he nor his late wife consented to the sale of deeply personal items such as her guitar and a black tutu. The widower sharply criticized the foundation's leadership, calling board members 'second-tier administrators' and 'unscrupulous lawyers,' while demanding the resignation of foundation director Ghyslaine Calmels-Bock.
In response, the organization issued a statement defending its actions and stating that it has faced a 'defamation campaign since the passing of its founder, whose objective is to destabilize its work and its leaders.'