France's first lady has defended her use of a sexist slur to denounce feminist protesters, saying the comments were "clumsy" but made in private when "I didn't see that someone behind me was filming."

Speaking to online media outlet Brut, Brigitte Macron acknowledged in a video interview published Monday evening that her language had been "very direct." But she said she'd been trying to reassure French actor Ary Abittan when she described feminist protesters who disrupted one of his shows as "dirty b - - - - - s."