French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have been thrust back into the spotlight after explosive claims in a new book alleged that tensions in their marriage were linked to messages exchanged between Macron and Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani.
The allegations appear in journalist Florian Tardif’s newly released book An (Almost) Perfect Couple, published on Wednesday, and have reignited discussion around a viral incident involving the French president and his wife during a visit to Vietnam last year.
According to Tardif, Brigitte Macron allegedly became upset after discovering “steamy” messages exchanged between Macron and Farahani on the president’s phone shortly before the couple exited their plane in Hanoi in May last year.
“I find you very pretty,” Macron allegedly told Farahani in one of the messages, according to the author.
French outlet Le Parisien reported that Macron and Farahani allegedly maintained a “platonic relationship” over several months. Tardif claimed the situation created tensions within the presidential couple.
“[This] led to tensions within the couple, which resulted in this private scene becoming public,” he said during an interview with RTL France.
An excerpt from the book claimed: “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.”
“She saw herself being erased,” Tardif quoted a friend of the French first lady as saying.
The controversy centers around a viral moment captured on camera in Hanoi, Vietnam, where Brigitte Macron appeared to shove or slap the French president moments before the couple disembarked their aircraft.
The footage quickly spread online and triggered speculation about possible tensions between the two.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
