Elysée Palace staff said at the time the row between the president and his wife was “horseplay.”
PARIS — Team Brigitte is slapping back against allegations her relationship isn’t perfect.
A person close to the First Lady, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, told POLITICO that Brigitte Macron “has categorically denied” allegations that her dust-up with her husband last year caught on camera was due to revelations of his purported relationship with an actress.
The claim was made in a new book about the pair, “An (almost) perfect couple,” by Paris Match journalist Florian Tardif. Tardif writes in his book, which went on sale Wednesday, that Brigitte “lost her temper” while the two were on the plane in Vietnam after discovering by mistake a message on his phone from Iranian-French star Golshifteh Farahani.
Speaking on RTL radio on Wednesday, Tardif alleged that President Macron maintained a “platonic relationship” with Farahani for several months. However, some exchanges — which Tardif said he was forwarded by people close to Macron — “went quite far,” the journalist said.
Tardif said one message sent to Farahani said: “I find you very attractive.”
The Elysée, which initially called the reports of the slap fake news and later dismissed the incident as “horseplay,” has not given an official response. An individual close to the French president, also granted anonymity to discuss the matter, said Brigitte Macron’s team denies the allegations.
President Macron himself said last year the ordeal had been blown out of proportion and he was “joking with [his] wife.” Still, however, the incident attracted much media attention worldwide. Even U.S. President Donald Trump joked about it last month.
Farahani has previously shot down rumors of a relationship with Macron but has not publicly commented on the allegations in Tardif’s book.