French President Emmanuel Macron slap by wife Brigitte fuelled by jealousy, new book claims
The viral moment took the world by storm with speculation rife as to what could have caused the heated clash.
A flirty text could be responsible for the dramatic slap Brigitte Macron delivered to her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron.
As the couple exited a plane in Hanoi, Vietnam in May, 2025, cameras caught the moment the first lady pushed Mr Macron’s face away from her with both hands.
Paris Match magazine’s political editor Florian Tardif now claims to know what led up to the clash.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.His book, A (Nearly) Perfect Couple, was released on Wednesday and follows the ins and outs of the Macrons’ relationship, including that viral moment.
Tardif claims Mr Macron had a “platonic love affair” with Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani for months, which caused a rift in his marriage, according to The Sun.
Watch the video in player above.
“The French president had a platonic love affair with the actress for several months,” Tardif said.
“They had told me this repeatedly. The messages they showed me were quite advanced, of the style of ‘you are very beautiful’.
“These messages led to tensions that ended with the private quarrel becoming public.”
He suggested that Mrs Macron had seen a text message between the two on her husband’s phone moments before the plane doors opened and their altercation was seen by the world.
“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,” he wrote in the book, as reported by the New York Post.
“She saw herself being erased.”
The first lady has denied the claims made by Tardif.
“Brigitte Macron categorically denied this account directly to the author on March 5th, specifying that she never looks at her husband’s mobile phone,” a representative told Le Parisien.
Farahani has also denied any romantic relationship with Mr Macron, calling it “baseless gossip”.
The couple have been married since 2007, after meeting at a high school where Mr Macron was a student and his now-wife a teacher.
At the time of the incident on the plane, Mr Macron downplayed the severity of the incident.
“We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife,” he said, adding that coverage of it was being overblown into “a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe.”
