Mathilde Panot sparks debate by rejecting October Rose ribbon for "October anger"

In the midst of October Rose campaigns, Mathilde Panot, president of the La France insoumise group in the National Assembly, uploaded a video stating she would not display the pink ribbon because cancer, she claimed, is used by multinational corporations for profit. She juxtaposed breast-cancer awareness with topics such as insecticides, Israel and Macron-era policies, ending with a demand for an "October anger" rather than pink symbolism.

The post drew criticism from minister of Equality between women and men Aurore Bergé, who questioned Panot's stance, and from Claire Geronimi, vice-president of the UDR and founder of Éclats de femme, who accused LFI of politicising the cause. Former health minister Aurélien Rousseau also labeled the stunt indecent. Online commenters reminded that the pink ribbon was created in 1992 by Alexandra Penney and Evelyn Lauder of Estée Lauder, not by a multinational health cartel.