Macron's marriage crisis disappears from the French media

Macron's marriage crisis disappears from the French media

A short thrust. A Millisekunde made in the US Rel = "NOFOLLOW" TARGET = "_ Blank" href = "https://www.cnn.com/world/europe/france"> France only broadcast for 24 hours and then disappeared again. When a viral video appeared last weekend that Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French President Emmanuel Macron, showed how they pushed him in the face while he just wanted to leave the plane in Vietnam, the next morning did not find a single French newsletter on the front page.

public reactions and cultural differences

because Prime Minister François Bayrou spoke about the financial measures that the French would have to take under his soon submitted budget? Or because people have recently been arrested in a number of cryptocurrency pressures? However, it is more likely that it illuminates the cultural gap between France and the Anglophone world - a long -lasting French conviction that the private life should be protected by politicians.

confidentiality of personal

This tradition of secrecy kept the illegitimate daughter of President François Mitterrand in secret for years. She also caused a delicate silence about other controversial personal life stories, such as the notorious women's life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The arrest of the former boss of the International Monetary Fund for sexual attacks in New York in 2011 abruptly ended his political career when he had just appeared as a leading presidential candidate.

The effects of media reporting

The same unwritten rules came into force in 2014 when the magazine Closer published photos of former President François Hollande - hidden behind a motorcycle helmet - when he arrived in a friend's apartment, where he supposedly met the actress Julie Gayet. At that time Gayet was his girlfriend, even though he was still living with Valérie Trierweiler.

The story caused excitement, but Holland's office condemned the "privacy injury", and the media soon withdraw. At a press conference, Hollande was only asked about his private life once, which he distracted with the comment: "Private matters are treated privately", which caused the amount of French journalists to remain silent and left foreign reporters.

The challenge through modern means of communication

When the video of the macrons began to circulate, the initial media reaction was quick but short -lived. French broadcasters played the clip in the loop, analyzed it briefly and then quickly waved on to other topics. But this basic rule is now being put to the test. "Over time, such personal stories have become much more difficult to control than 30 or even 20 years ago," said Thierry Arnaud, an international correspondent and experienced journalist at BFMTV. "It is true that we didn't make much fuss about it, but it is deeply embarrassed for Macron. You penetrate an intimate moment of a couple, and that is uncomfortable for both him and the audience."

macrons unconventional relationship

macrons relationship with Brigitte has always been unconventional. They met when he was only 15 years old and she was his theater teacher at a private school in Amiens. She was 24 years older, married and mother of three children. What started as a mentoring developed into something deeper, and when Macron graduated, he had swore to marry her one day. "No matter what happens, I will marry you", should he said as a teenager

public and private life in change

Your story was used as an election advertising in 2017, they made it public, posed in glamorous French magazines and described their marriage as a celebration of an atypical but loving modern family. Critics were labeled as an misinacts. "At first it was completely a sign of pride, a special kind of glamor that contributed to his (Macron's) picture of being both politically and personally. He fell in love with his teacher as a teenager and followed it.

The challenges by social media

After the incident in Vietnam, the couple publicly unique unity on the same evening by walking hand in hand through the streets of Hanoi, in a clear attempt to dispel rumors about domestic arguments. But the border between the public and private life is becoming increasingly blurred. Traditionally, the Élysée Palace has followed a strict politics of never commenting on rumors or the private life of politicians. But with the increase in social media and the disinformation campaigns, they are drawn into these personal controversy, which challenges this long attitude.

The answer to rumors

In March, conservative commentator Candace Owens directed an absurd conspiracy theory with a YouTube video entitled "Is France's first lady a man?" This video was extensive on X, and Owens called it "probably the biggest scandal in political history." Since then, Owens has produced numerous videos about Brigitte Macron for her 4 million YouTube subscribers, including a multi-part series entitled Becoming Brigitte.

Although the allegations are completely unfounded and Brigitte Macron successfully sued two French women who spread them, this has caused a reaction from the president. At an event in Paris in March 2024, Macron addressed the rumors directly and said that the worst thing about the presidency was to deal with "false information and invented stories". "People start to believe in it, and it bothers your life, even in your most private moments," added Macron. His words now appear prophetically because the world speculates about a deeply intimate exchange, to which we may never be given access.