Brigitte Macron isn’t letting the recent stories about herself and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, 48, run wild anymore.
The first lady of France has broken her silence on allegations about slapping her husband for apparently exchanging flirty texts with an actress.
She flatly denied the story, which once again spotlighted the viral slap from last year.
Highlights
- Brigitte Macron addressed the recent stories about herself and her husband Emmanuel Macron.
- A French journalist claimed she slapped him in public last year over text messages exchanged between Emmanuel and an actress.
- “She [Brigitte] saw herself being erased,” the journalist said, quoting one of her friends.
Brigitte Macron isn’t letting the recent stories about herself and her husband Emmanuel Macron run wild anymore
Image credits: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
Brigitte Macron released a statement after a French journalist alleged that she slapped her husband Emmanuel Macron in public last year because of a text she saw on his phone.
The text was allegedly sent from Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani, who had a “platonic love affair” with the French leader, according to bombshell claims made by journalist and author Florian Tardif in his new book An (almost) perfect couple.
Florian, a journalist for Paris Match, claimed Brigitte “lost her temper” and shoved him away after seeing the text.
Image credits: Andrzej Iwanczuk/Getty Images
The moment was captured on camera just before the couple set foot on Vietnamese soil for an official visit in May last year.
After the book went on sale on Wednesday, representatives for the French first lady denied claims that Golshifteh had anything to do with the on-camera slap.
They also insisted that Brigitte would never check Emmanuel’s cellphone.
Representatives for the French first lady denied claims that Golshifteh Farahani had anything to do with the on-camera slap
Image credits: Aurore Marechal/Getty Images
“Brigitte Macron categorically denied this account directly to the author on March 5, specifying that she never looks at her husband's mobile phone,” the statement said.
According to Florian’s bombshell claims, Emmanuel and Golshifteh would exchange text messages that became a point of contention in his marriage.
Golshifteh gained popularity in 2008 after starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the Ridley Scott film Body of Lies.
“The French president had a platonic love affair with the actress for several months,” Florian said while speaking to RTL radio this week.
“They had told me this repeatedly. The messages they showed me were quite advanced,” he added.
The journalist alleged some of the messages “went quite far,” including one that said, “You are very beautiful.”
Some of the messages “went quite far,” including one that said, “you are very beautiful,” the journalist claimed
Image credits: Andrea Hanks/Official White House
“These messages led to tensions that ended with the private quarrel becoming public,” Florian added.
When Brigitte and Emmanuel were flying to Hanoi, Vietnam, in May last year, the French first lady had read a “message that she was never meant to read.”
This led to a “dispute [that was] longer and harsher than usual,” he claimed.
Image credits: ELLE
“What hurt Brigitte was not so much the contents of the message as what it hinted at: a possibility … nothing tangible or that could really be denounced but the idea alone … was enough,” the journalist wrote in his book.
Quoting a friend of the French first lady, Florian said: “She [Brigitte] saw herself being erased.”
Florian, who claimed he spoke to more than 70 sources to corroborate the story, said the couple quarreled on the plane, which set the stage for the viral “slap” being caught on camera.
Rumors about a relationship between Emmanuel and Golshifteh first surfaced last year.
The actress acknowledged them in an interview, saying, “Fair or unfair, they are only rumours. They are like waves that come and go.”
Golshifteh has acknowledged rumors about her being in a relationship with the French president
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Following Brigitte’s viral slap last year, Emmanuel’s office initially claimed the video was fake.
They then claimed the couple was being playful with each other.
Emmanuel also addressed the incident himself and said, “There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it.”
Image credits: Elizabeth Fraser/U.S. Army
US President Donald Trump mocked the viral moment earlier this year, claiming Brigitte “treats him extremely badly.”
“I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” he said during a private lunch in Washington in April.
Emmanuel hit back, saying the comments were “neither elegant nor up to standard.”
“So I am not going to respond to them – they do not merit a response,” he added.
Florian claimed Brigitte once forced a young intern to leave for allegedly seducing her husband
Image credits: Elizabeth Fraser/U.S. Army
In his book, Florian also mentioned a “mysterious intern” who allegedly tried to make moves on the French president during his first term in office (2017–2022).
The author referred to her as “Scheherazade” and described her as attractive, intelligent, and ambitious.
“She tried to get close to the president – more out of ambition than love,” Florian wrote, quoting one of the president’s advisors saying she “used her charm to get what she wanted.”
Brigitte’s friend said the first lady “didn’t hold back” and “forced her to leave,” Florian claimed.
The French president was a 15-year-old boy when he first met Brigitte, who worked as a teacher in his school.
At the time, she was known as Brigitte Trogneux, married to banker Andre Auziere and mother to three children, Sebastien, Laurence, and Tiphaine.
A year after Brigitte divorced her husband, a 29-year-old Emmanuel and 54-year-old Brigitte tied the knot in 2007.
“That man was exactly where he wanted to be,” one commenter wrote online
