Bardot recovering at home after hospital stay, false death claims

Brigitte Bardot, the 91-year-old French actress and animal rights campaigner, is recovering at her home in Saint-Tropez after a nearly three-week hospitalization in Toulon earlier this month for a serious illness and a surgical procedure, her representatives said. The exact nature of the illness has not been disclosed. Her team thanked the staff and surgical team at the Saint-Jean private hospital where she was treated and said she is now resting at home.

The announcement that Bardot was recuperating followed a wave of false reports on social media claiming she had died. Bardot responded directly on her own account on the platform X, writing in French that she did not know "who the idiot who started this fake news about my disappearance" was and that she was doing well and had no plans to withdraw from life. The erroneous death claim was posted and later deleted by an influencer who said they had exclusive information; the influencer maintained the claim briefly after Bardot’s denial.

Fans posted messages of concern and support online after news of her hospitalization surfaced. Her representatives confirmed she underwent a procedure and returned home, but they declined to...