Bernard d’Ormale, the widower of French actress Brigitte Bardot, has criticized the planned auction of hundreds of Bardot’s personal belongings as a “joke” and a “disrespect to Brigitte’s memory.” The auction, scheduled for Monday at Paris auction house Drouot, will include more than 300 items such as portraits, toiletries, a flamenco guitar, and a black tutu.

D’Ormale expressed opposition to the sale, which is being organized by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, an animal welfare organization established by the late actress in 1986. He stated that many of the items, with approximately three-quarters originating from Bardot’s Paris apartment and the remainder from her Saint-Tropez home, La Madrague, should have been preserved as part of her legacy rather than sold to raise funds for the foundation.

“These are personal items. Why hold this sale? For the animals? It’s a joke,” d’Ormale said. He suggested that the belongings could have been kept for public exhibitions at La Madrague, noting that Bardot “would not have agreed to this sale.”

The foundation countered d’Ormale’s claims, emphasizing that the auction was approved in June by its board of directors, which at the time included Bernard d’Ormale as its president. However, d’Ormale said he had not realized the extent to which personal items would be included in the auction.

The disagreement unfolds shortly after d’Ormale was removed from his position as head of the foundation, a role he had held since Bardot’s death in December. Although he remains on the foundation’s board, he has also raised concerns about losing unrestricted access to La Madrague, where he had lived for 35 years. “I’ve lived there for 35 years and now they’re throwing me out. It’s quite something,” he said.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation was created by the actress in 1986 and focuses on animal welfare. It reports having taken in 13,000 animals through a network of four shelters and 150 partner organizations. Additionally, the foundation supports some 350 groups in France and operates in 70 countries worldwide.