Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet has come under fire after making a strongly-worded Instagram statement on the protests in France
Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet has faced backlash after speaking out against the violence during protests in France. The German-born model, 37, criticised the destruction of public buildings and businesses and argued that people can demand change without resorting to violence. Piquet added how shop owners, familities and tax payers are suffering from the unrest sparked by high school students blockading schools over teacher shortages and poor facilities in late September. It caused nationwide protests, leading to marches, thousands of arrests, and injuries.
She said in an Instagram post: “Watching what is happening in France and in other European countries is deeply upsetting.
There is a difference between protesting, demanding change and making your voice heard, and destroying the very communities you claim to be fighting for. “People can have very real reasons to be angry. They can feel unheard, frustrated and abandoned by the institutions meant to serve them. But burning public buildings, destroying businesses, attacking people and leaving entire streets devastated doesn’t fix any of those problems.
“In the end, it is ordinary people who pay the price. The shop owner. The employee. The family whose neighbourhood is destroyed. The taxpayer who will eventually pay to rebuild it all. You can understand anger without defending chaos. A society should be able to demand better without destroying itself in the process.”
Piquet has since received criticism from fans, with some accusing her of being out of touch with the financial struggles of most French citizens because of her privileged background. Verstappen and Piquet live in Monaco, alongside their daughter Lily, who was born in April 2025, and Piquet’s older daughter Penelope from her previous relationship.
“Kelly girl just shut up. Read the room,” one irate user said on X. “A millionaire who lives in Monaco telling the working class how to protest for their rights,” another wrote.
A third put: “Kelly Piquet is an influencer who lives in monaco and she thought she could talk about the french working class and make a relevant and smart point?”
“I literally cannot understand what she was thinking when she posted this???” a fourth said.
A fifth wrote: “A millionaire living lavshily in monaco who has never had to and never will work a day in a life thinking she has any right whatsoever to speak on the struggles and resistance of the working class.”
“A millionaire who lives in Monaco telling the working class how to protest for their rights. What a joke,” a sixth said.
There were some, however, who defended Piquet’s comments. One user said: “How do you see this… And think that she is wrong? What.”
Another put: “And she’s right so what’s your problem?”
“What’s funny is that all of you know what she’s saying is true, y’all don’t want her to say it,” a third wrote.
“She’s not wrong. idiotic take this,” a fourth said.