An AI-generated tabloid magazine cover online claims to show French President Emmanuel Macron and Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani together. The fake cover builds on claims from a new book by a French journalist, who alleges the pair had a “platonic” relationship, of which text messages prompted the now infamous “slap” by French First Lady Brigitte Macron of her husband, as the couple exited their plane in Hanoi.
French journalist Florian Tardif claimed in his new book “Un Couple (Presque) Parfait” (“An (Almost) Perfect Couple”) that whilst the relationship between Farahani and the French president was “platonic”, he alleged that Macron sent the message “I find you very pretty” to the actress.
Tardif claimed that, according to sources close to the couple, Brigitte Macron was very angry after seeing “a message that she was never meant to read” on her husband’s phone, and that they quarrelled en route to Southeast Asia. He said it prompted the incident seen around the world: the apparent slap as the pair exited the presidential plane in Hanoi.
At the time, the Elysée Palace initially cast doubt that the images were even real, though later clarified it was just “banter” between a couple before a long official visit. The French president also denied any domestic dispute, stating they were “horsing around”.
Neither the Macrons, the Elysée Palace nor Farahani have officially reacted to the new allegations, though Brigitte Macron’s entourage denied to Le Parisien on Wednesday that the incident was linked to the actress. They also specified that the French first lady never looks at her husband’s mobile phone.
Farahani had dismissed previous rumours of a purported relationship with the French head of state last year, telling Gala: “It comes in waves, appears, disappears. It doesn’t even bother me.” According to Gala, these rumours began spreading in 2024 by Iranian accounts on X.
The speculation has had little impact in France, where politicians’ personal lives are not seen as a huge priority. Most French people hold the belief that this is a private matter, staying more interested in Macron’s politics than his personal life.
