When Emmanuel Macron was first elected President of France, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about his background with his wife Brigitte. Brigitte and Emmanuel met when he was 15 years old and she was around 40 years old and his married teacher (with young children). Their relationship allegedly began when he was in his teens, although his parents reportedly separated them for a time. He eventually finished school and Brigitte eventually divorced her husband. Emmanuel and Brigitte married in 2007, and their marriage is still treated like an oddity, although French people seem to have a higher tolerance for “politicians in unconventional personal situationships.” Anyway, the Macrons’ marriage is once again making international news because of what happened when they flew to Vietnam for a state visit.
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron appeared to be pushed in the face by his wife Brigitte Macron as they arrived in Vietnam, the first stop of a Southeast Asia tour. https://t.co/nqzICGPpeY pic.twitter.com/VQnNSpMm1K
— ABC News (@ABC) May 26, 2025
It’s bad. This happened at the start of the Macrons’ five-day Asian tour, and I can only assume that it was one terrible flight, and the next five days are going to be awkward as hell. President Macron actually confirmed that the video is real, but he said that it was not as bad as everyone thinks:
The door of a plane carrying the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had just been opened by staff in Hanoi, Vietnam, when two hands reached out and pushed Mr. Macron smack in the face. He looked stunned at first. Then he looked up at a camera filming the scene from outside on Sunday and waved.
The video spread quickly. The hands belonged to the French first lady, Brigitte Macron.
On Monday, Mr. Macron said that the video had captured him and his wife “bickering and rather, joking around,” something, he said, “we often do.”
“I’m surprised by it, it turns into some kind of global catastrophe where people are even coming up with theories to explain it,” he said on Monday. “It’s nonsense.”
Mr. Macron, whose arrival in Vietnam marked the start of a five-day state trip to Southeast Asia, said it was the latest in a string of disinformation put out by “crazy people” targeting him in recent weeks. The footage was real, he said, but the interpretations were fake.
I mean, if the genders were reversed and Pres. Macron was just “joking around” by putting his hands on his wife’s face, people would be outraged, and justifiably so. I don’t know what’s happening in the Macrons’ marriage or what have you, but this will become fodder for Pres. Macron’s political enemies. Plus, it just makes it look like Brigitte is abusive to the husband she groomed from a young age.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- Victory speech by Emmanuel Macron – Candidate in March for his own re-election to the presidential elections of 2022,Image: 685799171, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: JB Autissier / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Emmanuel Macron ( president de la Republique ) – Brigitte Macron ( Premiere Dame ) au Palais de l Elysee,Image: 807218598, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Federico Pestellini / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Deutsch-Franzoesische Kabinettsklausur in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, Staatspraesident der Franzoesischen Republik gemeinsam mit Ehefrau Brigitte Macron bei der Ankunfte des deutschen und des franzoesischen Kabinett auf dem Airbus-Werksflughafen in Hamburg-Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09.10.2023 Hamburg Hamburg Deutschland *** German-French cabinet meeting in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic together with wife Brigitte Macron at the arrival of the German and French cabinet at the Airbus factory airport in Hamburg Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09 10 2023 Hamburg Hamburg Germany,Image: 812347144, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO / Avalon
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- Deutsch-Franzoesische Kabinettsklausur in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, Staatspraesident der Franzoesischen Republik mit Ehefrau Brigitte Macron bei der Besichtigung der A320-Produktionshalle auf dem Airbus-Werksflughafen in Hamburg-Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09.10.2023 Hamburg Hamburg Deutschland *** German-French cabinet meeting in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic with wife Brigitte Macron visiting the A320 production hall at the Airbus factory airport in Hamburg Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09 10 2023 Hamburg Hamburg Germany,Image: 812347801, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO / Avalon
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- Deutsch-Franzoesische Kabinettsklausur besucht AIRBUS in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, Staatspraesident der Franzoesischen Republik gemeinsam mit Ehefrau Brigitte Macron bei der Ankunft auf dem Airbus-Werksflughafen in Hamburg-Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09.10.2023 Hamburg Hamburg Deutschland *** Franco-German Cabinet Meeting Visits AIRBUS in Hamburg Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic together with wife Brigitte Macron arriving at the Airbus factory airport in Hamburg Finkenwerder , Hamburg, 09 10 2023 Hamburg Hamburg Germany,Image: 812348166, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO / Avalon
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- Reception dans le cadre de l ouverture des jeux Paralympiques au Palais de l Elysee en presence de Brigitte Macron et Emmanuel Macron,Image: 902675484, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jonathan Rebboah / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron – The President Emmanuel Macron receives the State Visit from Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France.,Image: 921066710, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: LIONEL URMAN/Avalon
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- FRANCE- POLITICS-TOP LEVEL SUMMIT-NIGERIA-AFRICA French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte received Nigeria s President Bola Tinubo, who is visiting France for two days in the company of the First Lady, at the Elysee Palace. In Paris, 28 November, 2024. PARIS ILE-DE-FRANCE FRANCE Copyright: xAndreaxSavoranixNerix FRANCE- POLITICS-TOP LEVEL SUMMI ASAVORANINERI-4,Image: 940392686, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Andrea Savorani Neri/Avalon
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- Paris, FRANCE – President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron hosted a grand state banquet at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris to honor the state visit of King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark. Pictured: Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 31 MARCH 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I knew there was Younger abuse going on.
Yep. Their whole relationship has been abuse best I can tell. 40 year old obsessed with a 15 year old?There’s a word for that 👀
She has a son his same age. Gross. I can’t imagine.
Oops, it’s a daughter, not a son. Still.
Yep. She actually met him when he was 14 her daughter was in his class. His parents discovered the relationship and moved him away asking her to stay away from their son. They changed his school. I believe she replied at the time “I don’t know if I can do that”
So disturbing she groomed him, preyed on him as a teenager, and robbed him of his childhood. It looks like she is physically abusive too. If he were my kid I’d have caught a case over all of this. I would be in jail for beating this woman with her own hands.
Their whole relationship is abuse.
It is called abuse – there was nothing playful about that and the look on his face was evidence enough. I don’t know how to properly “PR” that away, but it does a disservice to his constituents in abusive situations to downplay what the world saw.
Yes, the look on his face says it all. Even attempting to PR it away would have been a smiley hand holding descend from the plane, but Bidgett couldn’t pull her abusive shit together fornlong enough to try and salvage her husband’s reputation on the world stage. Her sulking down the stairs doesn’t help the narrative at all. It’s Nigella Lawson and thr Saachi guy all over again, with much higher stakes.
Yup. She could have changed jacket to save face I suppose but yes, the French presidents do have form in fucked up relationships, just like their kings.
Sarkozy, Mitterrand…Chirac must be boringly normal compared to the others.
Um there’s really no other way to read that video, regardless of how you ” joke” with your partner. His body language and face after realizing the door with all the cameras outside it was open, would also indicate it wasn’t a joke. I expect to hear about her seeking treatment shortly if the media doesn’t let this go, which why would they?
His face at realizing it was caught on film and then quickly compensating with a big cheesy smile for the cameras was something to behold.
it would have to be the international media — I suspect the French media already knows to some extent.
And I thought Melania’s public looks of utter disdain for her husband were bad.
Melania is free to swat Trump’s hand away to her heart’s content. Nothing is going to top this fiasco.
Ohhh, I forgot about the hand swatting.
Emanuel Macron is a brilliant politician. But it drives me crazy that he can’t see that he’s been groomed. Just from body language alone, their relationship has felt ice cold for quite some time. I know there’s been rumors on the French side that she’s not the only woman in his life anymore too. Although given how high profile he is, I find it hard to believe that the media wouldn’t know who and where immediately. Still, nothing justifies what Brigitte did. Her behavior is appalling.
This is one of those situations where I’m hoping for a divorce. It wouldn’t be the first time a French president divorced while in office.
I also know this may offend some but we need to start being better about holding women accountable for abusive behavior and doing better in how we treat men who are in abusive relationships. I acknowledge women still statistically are more likely to be abused and that abuse can get messy. But we also need to do better about calling out female abusers too.
Agree with everything except the “brilliant politician” part. He’s unpopular in France and at one point during the yellow vest protests he had 21% approval rating. He raised the retirement age in France (coming after pension plans in France is third rail shit akin to taking SS away in the US) and his policies have largely benefitted the rich over the working class.
Neoliberal politicians like Macron consistently lead to an insurgence of popularity for the far Right, no matter what country we’re talking about.
But none of that justifies his wife’s abuse, obviously. I do think the age difference and how they met is sketchy AF and I say that as someone who’s married to a man 8 years my junior. She’s gross and her behavior is unacceptable.
I knew I should’ve put a disclaimer about the brilliant thing. When I say “brilliant” I don’t mean Macron’s made great policies. I mean he’s won elections and votes he should’ve otherwise lost due to his public unpopularity. I mean that he knows how a maneuver and work his way in French politics, which is not an easy thing to do. His policies suck overall.
Oh yes ITA–he is definitely a polished politician for sure— slick AF and smart to boot.
And I have to add the obvious caveat that he’s far better than the orange shit stain we are stuck with in the US. At least Emmanuel has read a damn book.
It’s not the age difference that matters here, it’s that he was only 15 when it started. And she his teacher? In this day and age that’s illegal throughout the West (at least).
I guess she controlled him then and to some extend still controls him now. And he might indeed not know better.
His face and body language didn’t show “joking around”. You can see the woman who saw what happened, she also seemed shocked and tried to act like she didn’t witness that. Macron wouldn’t be the first person defending their abuser. She is a predator who groomed a teenager. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the groomed person can’t face the reality of their situation and still defend their groomers. Celine Dion is the same, she also can’t call what happened to her “grooming”, even though she says she wouldn’t accept that kind of relationship if it happened to her children.
In Macron’s case it’s not just facing the grooming situation, but his reputation and legacy as president on the world stage. He has worked tirelessly to create a diplomatic legacy that could continue after leaving office, and now this is ehat pops up first when you google him.
And a whole state funeral was given to Rene 🥴
Celine’s family was also problematic? Large and poor. Get rid of one daughter to a rich man I suppose.
Celine’s family was also uneducated and from a rural area so not really sophisticated in the ways of the world. Back then the same level of trust would have been provided to a local priest and Rene was offering their daughter an opportunity to be very successful. I don’t think her parents thought they were selling her off, but they were definitely incredibly naive.
The denial is actually bad? Makes it seem worse somehow.
I would never put my hands on my husband like that.
She forcefully put both hands on his face and forced him off balance. Wow just horrible to see.
And if she’s doing that when other people are around, what is she like in private?
This is nothing but spin. You see his body language. His face is tense. This was not horse play. We are not brain dead. They had a spat, she got handsy which is not cool. Regardless if you are the President of a Country or the local baker.
It was more than bickering. Own it and be honest. There is no place for putting hands on each other. It’s domestic violence. But don’t lie, the lies always make everything worse. Also sends an awful message to men and women about being physically and emotionally abused. Even if you groom them since a tween as their teacher.
That is tough to watch. That look on his face, ugh. It actually makes my heart break for him. He was 15 and she was around 40 when they met? I appreciate that the French are more open about personal and sexual relationships, but maybe they are taking it a little too far here. There is a power imbalance and we have now witnessed it quite literally throwing him off balance. This is not OK.
I have been married 2x. Once to an an abusive alcoholic and now to a nice, normal man. In my second marriage we can occasionally bicker especially since we have kids and kids can add stress. Overall though our arguments never get heated and we resolve them often taking time out to get cool heads. We have both done therapy together and alone. Overall, I never ever lay my hands on my husband and he , of course, does not lay a finger on me. We love each other and work things out and grudges etc don’t linger. What we see above is not the behavior in a healthy relationship and one where people are doing personal and couples therapy aka work.
This most disturbing thing about this is the lack of reaction from the people around them on the plane. It says they have seen this before and worse. I can’t believe how people are acting like this is no big deal.
They’re trained to be completely emotionless even in a situation this fraught. What are they supposed to do? It’s the president of France and his wife — they can’t step in and separate them or tell them to stop fighting. It’s “nothing to see here folks, nope, everything’s fine!”
Wow – he even paused a bit to wait for her and lifted his arm for her to take as they were going down the steps but she iced him out all the way. That was not horsing around, sorry spin doctors.
Yes, I noticed that too, a movement of his arm for her to slip her around his and she just ignored it. Also his hands look clenched.
I agree with the posters here, I don’t think it was horsing around, and he looked totally shocked when he realized it was on camera, moving quickly to a forced smile.
The grooming when he was a teenager and she was a teacher created an unhealthy power dynamic which persists to this day. This is Exhibit A. There have probably been other examples that weren’t caught on camera. He probably would like to exit this relationship but has no idea how just because he’s been abused for so long. Dude may be powerful but he needs help.
I always believed that she groomed him and this abusive behavior lends to that narrative. She should be ashamed of herself but I’m sure she doesn’t even know what shame looks like.
Thatgirlthere spot on!
I have no remorse for her. Her actions in the past and present are inexcusable. She has hurt so many people including her own children with all of this.
He was 15 and she was not just 40 but also his teacher. Her children still talk about the humiliation.
Her grooming him might explain why he is able to try and explain it away by saying it wasn’t abuse. He’s been with her during his adolescent years and may have been groomed to think this is normal affectionate behavior, so when he’s questioned about it he genuinely doesn’t see why others might look at it as being abusive or unhealthy. His relationship with her has been under a microscope since the beginning and he thinks any questions about it are from people being intrusive and not genuinely concerned about how really screwed up and abusive it is.
I wonder if she has dementia? Or the beginning of dementia?
For her physical abuse of him to become so public? Maybe. She groomed him though, and so that’s probably how it has always been privately.
This was my thought, too, that she is loosing inhibition due to dementia and hitting him, where she might not otherwise have done so at such a moment where they are standing at the doors of the plane about to open to the camera! Or another reason to lose inhibition would be intoxication.
Shocking and disgusting!
The bar is really low, on the floor actually.
Depressing to witness.
😞
My son and his friends are lovely people but I just do not understand what kind of freakish screw loose an adult woman must have in order to be attracted to that kind of juvenile nonsense. I’m not a pedophile like Miss Hittyhands up there though.
I hope Mr. Macron is able to get out of this abusive relationship. I don’t know if the stats are as bad for men leaving abusive relationships as they are for women leaving abusive relationships, but I hope he can be safe.
I knew about their huge age gap and that she was his former teacher, but I always assumed that they reconnected years later once he was a full grown adult and had experienced some of what life has to offer. It disgusts me that I kept looking past their relationship with an open mind only to realize now that he was groomed by her.
There is no excuse for what she did and as others have said here, that wasn’t joking around, that was abuse plain and simple and him trying to minimize it makes it even worse.
From purely gossippy sources, my information is that he was sent to board in a new high school in Paris when his parents found out about the relationship. They reestablished contact through mail, phone etc, where she assured him she would wait for him. Keeping in touch all that time, of course, so he wouldn’t get a chance to forget her.
I find the origins of their relationship deeply troubling. I taught a young man in his early 20s who had been groomed since around 15 by an older woman exclusively online. I learned that the two don’t even have to have met in person in order for grooming and control to begin and develop and become rock-solid. She waited until he turned 18 to fly out to meet him (and sleep with him) for the first time. I talked to the school psychological counseling center, they said there was nothing I could do, he was an adult by the time I met him. I gave him advice but he didn’t take it and to my knowledge he is still with her years later. Macron’s situation reminds me of that one and it is psychological manipulation pure and simple, not love. This is what older women grooming boys looks like, it is not about love or romance.
Shades of Mary Kay Letourneau. You’d think by now Brigette would have learned how to present a polished image, no matter what kind of tiff you’re having, but she totally lost control and got physically abusive. I hope he divorces her bony a$$.
I can all but guarantee that she emotionally and physically abuses him regularly. He looked scared.
Oh that poor woman that came to greet them and immediately looked away and lined up with the pilot(?). She definitely didn’t think it was playful.
I actually cried and felt sick to my stomach when I saw the video. I was in an abusive marriage and that shit stays with you-the trying to justify and explain what everyone with eyes can see, the smiling, the embarrassment, the fear. That woman should be in jail. My heart breaks for him. 💔
ETA: @Maja people would have thought my ex-husband and I had a great relationship too. We spent lots of time together, had friends, laughed and joked. He bought me beautiful gifts and treated me like a queen. It was because he’d beat the shit out of me the night before but that was only for us to know. I was a stay at home Mom to 2 beautiful children, and if I asked to go out on my own (and yes I had to ask) it was a no because he’d been working so hard and he deserved time out with his friends. I didn’t do anything of use and he paid for everything we had. Don’t believe pretty books.
This was really gross.
Macron has done such a good job managing Trump — maybe he’s learned from personal experience how to deal with an older, abusive, narcissistic groomer. It’s knowledge, however, no one should ever have to learn.
Aside from the grooming and the whole ick factor of this relationship, it told a lot to me that Trumplethinskin was so crazy about her when they met. Grooming grifters.
The film May December turned my stomach and made me very uneasy about this real life couple.
I saw this yesterday and was astounded. It never occurred to me that she was also physically abusive to him. This is astounding, and irrefutable. What on earth is going on that this would happen right as they are landed, they are standing and about to go down the stairs to greet the press and diplomats? I think she just ruined his political career. I don’t see how he would be reelected. I don’t have to be totally up on French history and politics to know that this weeklong tour of Vietnam and other Asian countries was a really big deal, in strengthening relations with a country they used to own and exploit. How angry must Madam Macron have been not to be aware of the timing and not to be able or care to control herself? He should have let someone else speakabout it, because he just made it worse. He said blah, blah, blah, it’s something we often do. This was a terrible revelation. From what I could tell, this went all over. It’s like the slap heard round the world.