French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped by his wife, Brigitte Macron, during a foreign trip last year. A new book by journalist Florian Tardif claims that this was because the first lady had read steamy messages allegedly exchanged between the French President and Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani. The French first lady’s representatives denied that the slap had anything to do with the actress. Farahani has also denied any relationship with Macron.
Brigitte Macron slapped Emmanuel over flirty texts, reports claim
After French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped by his wife, Brigitte Macron, while landing in Hanoi, Vietnam, last year, sensational claims in a new book allegedly claim that the heated exchange took place because Brigitte saw text message exchanges between Emannuel and Iranian-born actress, Golshifteh Farahani.
Journalist Florian Tardif discussed this in an interview with RTL France. His book, An (Almost) Perfect Couple, was published on Wednesday, May 13.
According to Tardif, Macron said, “I find you very pretty” in one of the texts. Le Parisien previously reported that Farhani, a vocal critic of Iran’s regime, was in a “platonic relationship” with Macron for several months.
“[This] led to tensions within the couple, which resulted in this private scene becoming public,” Tardif explained. Le Parisien also reported that Brigitte read a message on Emannuel’s phone just before the slap.
“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,” reads an extract from the book. “She [Brigitte] saw herself being erased,” Tardif quoted a friend of the first lady.
However, the French first lady’s representatives have denied that the slap had anything to do with Farahani. Brigitte also claimed that she would never check Emmanuel’s phone. The former has also denied all rumors about her and Macron.
At the time of the slap, Macron’s team quickly tried to control the damage by claiming that it was a playful slap. Some reports even claim that it was AI-generated.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on Mandatory.
