Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron were just starting their five-day Asian tour in Vietnam when cameras on the ground in Hanoi caught Brigitte shoving her husband’s face on the plane. Brigitte and Pres. Macron quickly disembarked the plane, and Pres. Macron offered his wife his arm. She made a point of refusing to touch him. But further into the trip, their body language began to improve, and by the time they landed in Jakarta, they were holding hands and standing closer to one another. I’m including photos from Vietnam and Indonesia in this post – it seems like everyone wants to examine their body language now.
Hours after the footage of the face-shoving went viral, Pres. Macron issued a statement, confirming the authenticity of the video but saying that he and his wife were simply “bickering and rather, joking around [which] 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. It’s nonsense.” What I missed was that the Élysée Palace initially dismissed the video as AI, but then Macron’s office issued a statement saying: “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh. It was a moment of closeness.” We’re really being gaslighted about what we saw with our own eyes, but whatever. NPR points out that the video will be used (and is already being used) by Macron’s enemies and by enemies of the EU’s agenda and political power.
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
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Hanoï, VIETNAM – France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron visit the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi on May 27, 2025. © Jeanne Accorsini/Pool/Bestimage Pictured: Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 27 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID 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*
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- Hanoi, VIETNAM – France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron board their plane for departure following their visit to Vietnam at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Pictured: Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 27 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID 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*
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- Hanoï, VIETNAM – France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron board their plane for departure following their visit to Vietnam at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Pictured: Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 27 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID 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*
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- Jakarta, INDONESIA – Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto receives France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on May 28, 2025. Pictured: Prabowo Subianto, President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 28 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID 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*
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- Jakarta, INDONESIA – Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto receives France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on May 28, 2025. Pictured: Prabowo Subianto, President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron BACKGRID USA 28 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID 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*
She’s a groomer and an abuser—there is no doubt in my mind that Macron is a victim of abuse. As far as the enemies of the UN using it against him, they can kick rocks—bunch of dictators and human rights violators.
Groomer and abuser pretty much covers it.
the flight attendant’s shoulder was lacerated and bloodied, and her clothing was torn
I don’t think so. I thought the same at first but several other photos taken from different angles showed that it was part of a fancy scarf that was tucked underneath the strap of the vest she was wearing. I was relieved to see pictures showing this because otherwise the idea that someone was injured like that was horrifying.
That woman was not a flight attendant, she was ground crew. What you see on her left shoulder is part of her uniform. Good gad! She was outside the plane cabin during the face shove! This was bad, and clearly no ‘joke’, but let’s not make it worse.
And I suspect they were ‘joking around as usual’ in the same manner Kate & William ‘throw pillows’ at each other. There’s nothing funny about any of it. Physical abuse is not OK. Verbal abuse is not OK.
But–I can see why Macron would make light of it at this moment. He’s in the middle of a work trip, he’s lived with this woman since forever, he probably feels he can’t say anything right now. Maybe, hopefully, he’ll eventually come to the realization of what he’s been living with all these years & find the strength to leave. I think his career is uppermost in his mind right now.
It was a moment of closeness!
Yeah, her hands were close to his face.
… bickering — and rather, joking …
Oops, accidental truth spoken there!
Nothing to see here, NOTHING AT ALL!
I can’t decide whether to go with “Sure, Jan” or “Who you gonna believe, baby, me or your lyin’ eyes?”
I read on NPR the Russians have really boosted this story to undermine Macron. Especially as a NATO leader and advocate, he is first on the list, due to his prominence. Of course, two things can be true. I also hope we can learn from Finland who started teaching children in their national curriculum to spot online manipulation.
That the russians are involved doesn’t surprise me at all.
Finland has a lot of lessons the rest of us can learn from and a class on disinfo is def one! If anyone goes to Helsinki, be sure to visit their library. It’s so much more than a standard library and is the best I’ve ever seen. 🙂
The problem is, for me at least, his reaction. I joke with my SO, he jokes with me, we usually are smiling , smirking or laughing. There’s none of that on his face. I doubt this is the first time she has reacted to him this way. It’s more a shame he’s making excuses for her behavior.
Yeah, the look on his face says it all & is backed up by her frostiness on the way off that plane. She’s p*ssed about something.
“NPR points out that the video will be used (and is already being used) by Macron’s enemies and by enemies of the EU’s agenda and political power.”
While this is certainly true, I just want to comment how deeply sad I find this and what it suggests about the state of the world that an act of DV would be used to attack the victim of that DV act. I realize the reality of the world, I’m not questioning whether it is or will be used, just that I find the fact that a man being physically assaulted by his partner would be an effective thing to undermine the man to be terribly depressing.
very true and very depressing.
That was my thought, too. Are they using it to say he’s such a weak man, his wife pushes him around? Etc., etc. That’s awful but expected in a misogynistic rightwing world.
Of course, she was giving him one last relaxing facial massage.
I have to ask myself if there is ANYONE in his life letting him know that NOW is the time to escape — I can see how he feels trapped in this relationship due to the psychological trauma bonds, the time and of course his career that depends on the stable, happy persona….but this is his chance to run.
I do think he feels trapped in the relationship, but does his political status (at home and abroad) depend on him staying in this marriage? I think as you said, this would be a good opportunity for him to bow out of the marriage because now everyone sees that his wife is not just older, she’s abusive and has been since she targeted her 15-year-old student.
A Russian plant could not have more effectively destroyed his reputation on the world stage. She needs to be checked for bags ‘o cash and her banking information needs thoroughly examined. His immediate reaction to normalize her behavior is gutting. She warped his love map and normalized abuse before he was old enough to know better.
From the few articles I have read about France, the laws and culture, about DV, it’s pretty much ignored and the victims just suffer in private with no help. And that’s women. So, I can’t even imagine how much harder it’s for men. I hope from this, he sees how bad this relationship and something pushes him to leave. My heart goes out to him and anyone being treated like this.
There is a 25 year age difference. She is old enough to be his mother. If she has been treating him and controlling him as a child all these years perhaps he is now trying to pull the plug. Is this the cause Of the public fight?
That was not part of some playful banter, it was a hard shove — so hard that he stumbled back, then looked utterly shocked. It’s clear they were arguing because just prior to the shove he looked quite tense as he was talking to her, he was NOT joking with her. It was completely disgusting behavior and I hope he leaves her because this couldn’t be the first time she’s pushed or slapped him around.
Completely agree here!
This incident makes me sad and angry at the same time for all victims of DV, the majority of which are women.
But, as we can see here, men are being abused too, and in Macron’s case, in public. How much worse will their relationship be when it’s just the two of them behind closed doors? And in the huge building that is the Élysée Palace, they’re never on their own. Someone is bound to talk, eventually.
Apparently EM is still close to Laurence, one of BM’s daughters, the one who is his former classmate. Let’s hope someone in the family, or a friend, anyone, can gently open his eyes about this relationship that has been unhealthy for decades, and help him leave.
I was talking to my nephew about this situation yesterday and he said that DV I very prevalent in which the female is the abuser, they talk about it in male circles, but it is just laughed off at the beginning but as time goes on and they really get down to it the laughing stops and silence. No one really wants to dig deep into the subject for fear of being thought of as weak.
That’s sad.
It’s not even that cute or fun if a melting-down 3-year-old shoves us in the face but a grown adult doing that to their partner? Especially with cameras right there? I’m sorry that’s their dynamic, it’s a terrible way to be a public figure.
I’ve been mulling over the suggestions made by other commenters that this may be a sign of dementia in her, and I think that’s a possibility.
That is absolutely not an excuse, but it would explain why someone like her — a clearly experienced groomer, with a long history of effectively concealing her manipulative and abusive behavior — lashed out so near to cameras.
In any case, things will never improve in this relationship. It’s far too late for that. And eff the Russians and others trying to use this against Emmanuel Macron.
I think that is a good question though. This was done so close to the cameras. It’s shocking that it was allowed to be seen. But that’s what ticks me out. How many of these “private moments” with the macrons or any other couple are happening that people don’t know about. Bc if something like his can happen in front of the cameras what in the heck is happening when the cameras are not around?
The father of one of my best saw Sarkozy slapped Cecilia attias in the face in front of many journalist in 2007. They were already over.
Not a word in the press or internet by the time ! We still are the nation where A LOT of people knew for D.strauss khan (me included) but no one talked about it publicly !
That was my assumption also.
I also think it’s time for him to leave, and i don’t think it would hurt him politically. Both Hollande and Sarkozy, his two predecessors, left their spouses and got a new partner, a number of politicians openly have girlfriends after leaving their spouses, with or without a divorce. He cares about politics, but he can’t run again for president; he deserves to live his own life, not hers.
President Macron has a huge weight on his shoulders, in having to navigate such a glaring happening, that is unmistakable, while he is representing his country in a foreign country. He is trying to do a good job, and I think he is doing it with grace. Not overlooking his prevarications, but what else is he to do in the situation without hijacking his diplomatic mission. It’s already been hijacked by Madam Macron. I think I ragged on the President yesterday, but that was because I wanted to say that it clearly was a physical shove, and I wouldn’t believe anything other than what I saw. He can come out later and say what he likes or divorce her quitely after he gets through this mission. I’m still quite shocked.
She is a beard.
If she were a man or trans I’d be saying the exact same thing: She looks like that neighbour in there’s something about mary…leatherfied!