Later this month Salma Hayek will receive the French government's highest honor and people in France are ticked off. Apparently becoming a knight in France is a big deal and you are supposed to have done some really wonderful things for France and in many cases have died for France to receive the award. Salma did marry a French national who is rich and best friends with the President so that apparently qualifies her for knighthood. Others who were scheduled to receive the award with Salma have declined to be honored in a protest for what they feel is an unjust award. Most of the time people just kind of roll their eyes when a celebrity gets something like this, but good for the French people for sticking to what they believe and who they want to see honored. It is not going to change anything as the President is almost out of office so does not really care what the people think.
i'm not a big defender of the french...heee, but i'm so w/ them on this one.
ReplyDeleteGood for the French! And to receive such an honor, shouldn't you qualify as some sort of hero, even in the Arts?
ReplyDeleteI think salma deserves a life-time achievement award at the Golden Globes. If there is one.
Bizarre.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on? Two France related posts in one day?
ReplyDeleteI would think there would be a committee voting on candidates for such a high honor.
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ReplyDeleteJerry Lewis was awarded something from France years ago and I can remember people scratching their heads at that time..but Selma? for being the hotest import from South America?
ReplyDeleteJust crazy...she should say thank you, but I cannot accept.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all how can you be knighted in a country that has no monarchy?!?! WTF
ReplyDeleteSecondly Salma really should decline since it is an affront to the French people who justly deserved the honor and not just paid for it.
I heard this on the news this morning and thought maybe it was just an excuse for the French prez to meet her?
ReplyDeleteShe should decline and act like it never happened.
Her husband looks like Mr Potatohead in this picture!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Salma is being knighted for HER Golden Globes. Ooh la la!
ReplyDeleteThe French take some things VERY seriously, like when Depardieu's son kick someones ass for mocking his outfit. You do not mock a French man's
ReplyDeleteensemble!
Love that dress.
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear from pomme about this, s'il vous plait!
ReplyDeleteWasn't she embarrassed to even have considered such a bogus "award"?
ReplyDeleteSalma Hayek is actually a humanitarian and she's done a lot of global missions and charity work.
ReplyDelete^True, and putting her juggs to work too, breastfeeding one hungry kid at a time.
ReplyDeleteA good thing. But really, surprising.
Oh, I also am waiting for pomme's comment... Maybe there are other details to this story
ReplyDeleteSalma is a bad person. Anyone remember that Lainey Blind Item reveal about her being horrid to her staff and just an all and all bitch/cunt/asshole?
ReplyDeleteAnd I think her marriage to Mr. RichFrenchie (who managed to impregnant both her and Uma or someone along those lines) is suspect and weird and seems money whore-y for some reason. Like the French version of Tom and Kate but with sex and even more money.
In short, good on the French for making a stand!
Just because she married into money does not make her a lady.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if her husband (Paid) had anything to do with her getting the knighthood???
Salma is a hag?!?!?! Damn .. I really love her but if that is the case .. I might need to re-evaluate.
ReplyDeleteI think Sylvia might be in the right track .. for I think her husband made a baby with a supermodel at the same time Salma was having her daughter?? [I want to say Linda Evangelista?? And it is a boy?? Might be way wrong so if so my apologies.] But perhaps this is an apology knighthood?
Regardless, given the gravity of the title, Salma should beg off.
Love that they French are "boycotting" this award but I hope the true persons who deserve to be knighted actually get knighted and not Salma. This reeks of a payoff.
ReplyDeleteYes, where is pomme on this one?
ReplyDelete@figgy - good question.
Here's some info on the Légion d'Honneur, it got abolished after the French revolution, but Bonaparte brought it back:
ReplyDeleteThe Légion d'honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour) is a French order established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on May 19, 1802.[2] This world-renowned Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five various degrees: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer), and Grand-Croix (Grand Cross).
The royal orders of the Kings were all abolished after the French Revolution, but Napoleon saw a need to officially honor outstanding service and merit based on the principle of equality between military and civilian citizens. By honoring the different kinds of services rendered to the country, this new order reflected the ideals of the revolution.
in 1962 General Charles de Gaulle restored the Legion of Honor to its original concept as the highest general military and civil order of merit.
Today the award can be given to men and women, French citizens and foreigners, civilians and military personnel.
Candidates are nominated by the various Ministers, who submit their names to the Grand Chancellor. He in turn presents them to the President of the Republic.
French nationals, men and women, can be received into the Légion, for "eminent merit" (mérites éminents) in military or civil life. In practice, in current usage, the order is conferred, in addition to military recipients, to many entrepreneurs, high-level civil servants, sport champions[4] and people with high connections in the executive branch of the government.
Foreigners may be nominated for membership in the Légion d'honneur by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They can be admitted at any rank and promoted regardless of how long they have been members.
In the United States, Generals of the Army Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur are among the 10,000 Americans who have received the decoration. In 1949, the Academies of West Point and Annapolis were also decorated. Although it is rare for an ambassador in Paris to be awarded the Légion d'honneur, a posthumous exception was made for the United States ambassador Pamela Harriman in 1997. The last surviving American World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, also received this honor.
The list of recipients is quite diverse, including such names as Mahmoud Hesabi (1903-1992), Iranian scientist, Alexander Graham Bell, Paul Hewson (aka Bono), Fairuz (Arabic: فيروز also spelled Fairouz or Fayrouz) a distinguished Lebanese singer, William Joseph Donovan, KBE United States Army, was an American soldier best remembered as wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the "father" of today's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Rear Admiral Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville, French explorer and naval officer.
Obviously it is quite an honor, and call me pessimist, but I don't see how Salma Hayek has earned that right. Breastfeeding needy children and all.
^Maybe @Pomme could explain how Salma is perceived in France. If she had done some grand gestures we don't know about to earn that honor.
ReplyDeleteWow, we know what Salma got for Christmas! Good for those speaking up about this. Unless Salma has really done something for the French ppl we dont know about, I dont think marrying the Presidents rich buddy is laying your life down for France. Cadence
ReplyDeleteHa ha, that must be it an apology Knighthood! Oui oui I make baby with supermodel Linda E, but you stay with me & I will give you honor & riches. Gross, thought she had more class. Cadence
ReplyDeleteHi. Usual French lurker, first time poster.
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts:
- the title (first rank) is indeed knight but you don't get knighted (republic and stuff).
- Salma Hayek is quite well perceived in France.
- Sarkozy is not almost out. He is the main candidate for next election.
- The outrage comes from the existing collusion between the Pinaults and Sarkozy who likes to pander to the french 1% and is often criticised as being the "bling-bling" president.
- Sarkozy is an asshole.
Glad if I made things clear :)
@ pookie "the french"? seriously? like "the americans" I am afraid such thing does not exist. We are not one monolithic block of look alikes and think alikes.