In an interview with Public, Cindy Bruna returned to the nickname given to her by her school friends. The top model confides in the violence of racism.
On June 1, 2022, Cindy Bruna revealed herself in a book, titled The day I stopped being afraid, in which she confides with an open heart on the many violence of which she has been the victim. In an interview for the magazine Audience, the model opens up about the racist criticism she received as a child: “I didn’t realize it because I didn’t know what it was. It had never been explained to me,” she begins by evoking. But it’s at school that she understands : “When they called me ‘grilled baguette’. ‘Grilled’ because I am mixed race and ‘baguette’ because I am very fine. But that did not affect me, because I lived worse at home”.
Indeed, Cindy Bruna lived through hell when she was a child. Her stepfather would have been very violent with her, but also her mother: “That’s the whole trap… We had a very nice vacation, moments of peace and then surges of hatred. I think my mother wanted to believe that she could cure him of all these demons. And then the “Alcohol took over and we dreaded the evenings when he came home late and where everything could change for my mother. Physical, verbal, sexual violence…”. A family situation that gave him a very bad image of the male sex: “I don’t want to generalize. I was lucky to have my real dad. He wasn’t perfect, but I had a lot of love for him (he passed away). My sister is very happy with her husband. No, I haven’t lost my confidence in men. I have a love life, everything is fine”.
Cindy Bruna: “From the first days, the violence was there”
Cindy Bruna had returned to the violence she had witnessed when she was younger : “My mother fell in love, she wanted to believe it, even if, from the first days, the violence was there. The scenes, the insults, the slaps (…) My stepfather, in addition , an addiction to alcohol. My mother endures his anger, even when, at the table, he calls her a ‘nigger’. Today, I understood that as a black woman she suffered the double prejudice of sexual and racial violence”.
© SGP
3/12 –
Cindy Bruna
“It had never been explained to me”, she begins by evoking.
© SGP
4/12 –
Cindy Bruna
But it was at school that she understood: “When they called me ‘grilled baguette’. ‘Grilled’ because I am mixed race and ‘baguette’ because I am very fine. But that did not affect me , because I lived worse at home”.
© Backgrid UK
5/12 –
Cindy Bruna
Indeed, Cindy Bruna lived through hell when she was a child.
© SGP
6/12 –
Cindy Bruna
Her stepfather would have been very violent with her but also her mother: “That’s the whole trap…”
© CYRIL MOREAU
7/12 –
Cindy Bruna
“We had a great vacation, moments of peace and then surges of hatred. I think my mother wanted to believe that she could cure him of all these demons. ”
© SGP
8/12 –
Cindy Bruna
“And then the alcohol took over and we dreaded the evenings when he came home late and where everything could change for my mother. Physical, verbal, sexual violence…”.
© SGP
9/12 –
Cindy Bruna
A family situation that gave him a very bad image of the male sex: “I don’t want to generalize. I was lucky to have my real dad.”
© Backgrid UK
10/12 –
Cindy Bruna
“He wasn’t perfect, but I had a lot of love for him (he died). My sister is very happy with her husband. No, I haven’t lost my trust in men. I have a sentimental life, everything is fine”.
© SGP
11/12 –
Cindy Bruna
Cindy Bruna returned to the violence she had witnessed when she was younger: “My mother fell in love, she wanted to believe it, even if, from the first days, the violence was there. The scenes, the insults, slaps”
© CYRIL MOREAU
12/12 –
Cindy Bruna
“My stepfather has, in addition, an addiction to alcohol. My mother endures his anger, even when, at the table, he calls her a ‘nigger’. Today, I have understood that as a black woman she suffered the double harm of sexual and racial violence”.