Brigitte Macron covers the September issue of Elle France. It is her first magazine cover and first major interview since becoming First Lady of France, and really, it’s her first public statement since everyone was like, “So, you were his teacher when he was 15 years old, wow.” It’s true – she met and fell in love with Emmanuel Macron when he was 15 and she was 39. He was sent away so he could “get over” their extremely inappropriate love affair/child abuse. They got back together when he was 19 and they’ve been together ever since. Brigitte totally glosses over all of that, of course. Some highlights from the interview:
She sees the role of First Lady as informal: “If my presence ever becomes a complication, I will fade into the background.”
Making the choice to be with Emmanuel: “There are times in your life where you need to make vital choices. And for me, that was it. So, what has been said over the 20 years, it’s insignificant. Of course, we have breakfast together, me and my wrinkles, him with his youth, but it’s like that. If I did not make that choice, I would have missed out on my life. I had a lot of happiness with my children and, at the same time, felt I had to live ‘this love’ as Prevert used to say, to be fully happy.”
The criticism she received when the details of their relationship became major news: “I ended by telling myself, ‘OK, I do not take it well but I have to deal with it. After, it will pass.”Emmanuel’s only fault: “Emmanuel’s only fault, perhaps, is that he is younger than me. When I read about us, I always get the impression that I’m reading someone else’s story. With Emmanuel, I’ve truly gotten used to the extraordinary things that happen to me that I always wonder what will be the next adventure. And it has been going on for 20 years.”
She doesn’t like being called ‘First Lady’: “That’s the translation of an American expression, and I don’t like anything about it.”
She doesn’t mind if you ask her about fashion: “Why not, if it does some good for the French fashion industry? I’m really into fashion, and there’s this fascination the world over around this idea of the French woman.”
The repetition of the “twenty years” line is interesting – she counts the beginning of their relationship back to when he was 19 years old and she was 44 (she’s 64 years old now). She doesn’t count the start of their relationship back to when he was 15 and she was his teacher. She also bills their marriage as some grand love story, the thing which has fulfilled her… perhaps more than her children from her first marriage. Eh. I’m sure someone is buying it. I still think she seems very creepy, I’m sorry.
Photos courtesy of Elle France, Getty.
I am French and I am already seriouslsy so sick of her and her husband and their gross love story ! She needs to accepts that the relationship was gross and creep from the start and move on.
@anonymous! Do you have any info on the beginning of their romance, when she was his teacher? Was there any statutory investigation on their relationship then, as per his age? And how did his family react? Any insight information from France? Merci!!!
@SoulSPA it was not illegal, he was beyond the age of consent. Creepy by our standards, sure, but nothing illegal.
His family sent him away at the time. He returned some years later to be with her.
They started having relations when He was 16 and not 19 !! But He was above legal age of consent and She was not his teacher anymore. So techniqually it was gross but not illegal. The both of them make me sick. I feel sorry for her former husband.
In France age of consent is 15, but in thier cas it was illegal because case she was his teacher and he was 17 : “: Sexual violence without violence, coercion, threat or surprise on a minor over fifteen years of age is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of € 45,000:
1 ° When committed by an ascendant or by any other person having an authority of law or of fact on the victim;
2 ° When committed by a person who abuses the authority conferred on him by his duties. ”
(article 227-27 Code pénal français)
If that happened in the US, this woman would have gone to jail. What a sick couple.
I ain’t gonna lie, I am surprised the relationship has not imploded at this point. I would think he would have had a come to Jesus moment and just walked away.
These types of relationships either implode fairly quickly or last forever, IMO.
Yup, like Celine Dion and her husband, whom she met when she was 12 years old.
She’s sick. How was she not prosecuted?
It depends on the French laws.
Maybe the fact she walked away when he was 15 convinced his parents that it was over and nothing would have come out of it in the future.
I don’t think she walked away. His parents were so horrified that took him out of the school and put him in a lycee in Paris.
I don’t think she walked away. His parents were so horrified took him out of the school and put him in a lycee in Paris.
Age of consent in France is 15. They started dating when he was 19. She did nothing illegal.
That’s… not entirely accurate.
She started grooming him at 15, and when his parents found out, they removed him from the situation. She was married, with her own children, when she actively encouraged a young teen to flirt/maybe more, with her.
So, while yes they married, she is a sexual predator and that should never be forgotten.
But the power dynamic is gross. If she were running for office, surely the predatory nature of their early relationship would be more of a factor. As it is, he didn’t do anything wrong and their age difference now is fine.
Not true. She was seeing him, involved with him. That’s why after the parents couldn’t get it to end they sent their son away, which still didn’t end it.
I read this:
” There was no question, ever, of the pupil-teacher relationship exceeding any limits set down by French law, which defines the age of sexual consent as 18 in cases where one person has authority over the other.”
On top of that – always feel so skeeved out when people in these kinds of relationships state that it only started at EXACTLY the age that is ‘legally’ acceptable. You have to wonder how many times that’s the agreed upon story and not reality.
No, it’s accurate. Please feel free to be morally opposed to it but he was legal when they began dating.
Sorry if this is hostile but given the fact that Americans elected an actual rapist as president i’m not willing to hear you all crap on my country and our laws.
Well, I’ll feel free cause honey, I’m Canadian.
And I’ll put Sophie up beside your sexual predator any day.
Cleo,
Most Americans did not vote for that rapist, but Brigitte isn’t an elected official. We’re not criticizing the French people for her. She alone is responsible for behavior unfitting for a teacher.
Just IMMORAL, unethical, and plain old fashioned gross.
After all the years that they have been married, to criticize seems irrelevant. It must be hard for her.
It’s water under the bridge. They are obviously consenting adults now. That said, if a teacher was “grooming” my teen son I would prosecute and stay with it; yes his parents “moved” him away, but there is a responsibility to “out” abuse.
Eh, I feel like it is mostly Americans who are horrified by this. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but Brits seem to quietly amused by this couple, while every French person I have spoken to seems more irritated with Macron’s politics and his love life rarely comes up – I know it is a cultural thing, too, in that historically the French don’t give a toss about their politicians personal lives (I mean..Sarkozy…Hollande…did not have particularly vanilla love lives, either).
My point is – the last French profile I read about Mr and Mrs Macron, there was one sentence about their age difference and 3 paragraphs about how she comes from a family of accomplished macaroon makers…
I think so; although it’s more to do with how we perceive politics in Europe vs. USA rather than ideas about romance and couples.
I am from Italy where many didn’t bat an eyelid for Berlusconi’s escapades and his parties or for a guy who was in his 60ies and wanted to marry a 13-year-old girl…
However, if things are reversed (woman older than man), all hell breaks lose.
Lost count of all the friends I’ve lost because I married a man 13 years younger than me.
@SilverUnicorn – sorry to hear that about your friends…you don’t need that shit 🙂
And yes – in Europe there seems less fascination with (or entitlement to access) politicians personal lives. I suppose this is changing now, with social media etc – but one of the things I’ve always appreciated about Brit politics is that people’s partners and marriages (and religion) have not traditionally been up for discussion/scrutiny.
Don’t know if I’m a typical Brit but I looked at the first reports of their relationship and thought – ewww, they started out icky as a power abuse and imbalance but clearly they form part of the very small percentage of such relationships that genuinely work. And I wouldn’t really think about it again.
I think it’s good that we don’t put so much stock the kind of family life a politician leads. Really, we’d only scandalise stuff if it was highly dodgy – Keith Vaz and his “bring poppers!” to the sex workers, for example. Even then, he didn’t lose his career over it.
Macron seems to be losing popularity for entirely political reasons, doesn’t he? And I imagine it’s only going to get worse. Many French folk will defend employment rights to the death
(Sorry to hear about your fair weather friends, Silver. It’s power, not age, that matters.)
Americans elected a man who assaulted teen beauty pageant queens in their dressing rooms but then have an issue with this?
@Cleo: Believe me, many many many Americans have an issue with our Rapist In Chief.
@ Clare- Honestly, my French family members & friends are of two camps:
1) They don’t GAF about Macron’s personal life (this is a VERY French mentality when it comes to politicians)
or
2) They think that the fact that he is married to an older woman is indicative of a kind of depth and unconventional thinking, like he’s not superficial so he must be a good man.
@Silver Unicorn- “Lost count of all the friends I’ve lost because I married a man 13 years younger than me.”
Wow really?
If you care to share, I’m all ears.
The issue that I most encounter with my friends and their feelings about my 31 year old BF (I’ll be 39 in a few months) is just judgment, like they don’t think he could possibly be serious about me. It’s super effin annoying. Sometimes I feel like they don’t believe me when I say that we’ll get married, simply because he’s younger than me. Like, he will eventually come to his senses, realize that I’m too old for him, and move on to some 24-year-old.
“Lost count of all the friends I’ve lost because I married a man 13 years younger than me.”
Married a man younger than me and it’s so funny how many friends I’ve seen act like what I did was a personal affront to them. I, too, am losing friends. But were they really my friends in the first place? Hmm…
Um, sorry but what is their problem? Have you asked them?
@Sixer @Clare
Thanks for your comments ❤
@Kitten
That’s what I was getting too “oh he’s too young to be serious about you / you won’t probably have kids so at that age he will choose someone younger (without even knowing we wanted to be childfree lol) / if you get married, he will divorce you soon after, etc”
Hubby was 26 when we met, I was 39. We dated for a few months and then we got married. Among my friends, one of the first ‘to dump me’ was my BFF of 17 years…. she totally threw a fit one month before the wedding because I hadn’t listened to her advice and I was committing the biggest mistake of my life (this coming from a woman who had lived together with a man for 7 years, got married and was divorced after 6 months because he had met another woman).
For the record, I have been married for years now and still going well (crossing fingers). Except 2 couples, all the other friends I knew have divorced or split up with their partners.
I’d say that in life you never know and most of the time age gaps don’t really matter (unless they’re creepy as the Macrons or the Taylor-Johnsons).
Lost count of all the friends I’ve lost because I married a man 13 years younger than me.
I think a lot depends on your age at the time; Were you 73 and he was 60? or were you 30 and he was 17? It is not the amount of years, it is at what age did these this marriage take place.
They aren’t good friends but I am sorry they abandoned you for something that silly.
Americans’ purity test keeps good politicians from running for office and yet we ended up with the worst man in the world.
I think it’s the fact the relationship might have started out 15 that makes the love story sound strange. Even cancelling out the fact she was his teacher, the age at which it might have started makes the story sound bonkers.
I’m wondering how a 39 year old could possibly fall for a 15 year old, regardless of gender. It’s kind of….I don’t know if fascinating is the right word to use here….but I certainly get why people would be interested in the gossip behind all of this and how these people’s minds works, no matter where you’re from. The fact that he’s considered a bit of an intellect also makes the story even more….again, I don’t have the words. If he was of low intelligence like most of those kids I’ve seen involved with their teachers profiled on Dateline or 20/20, I think it would be easier to understand how he was able to stay with her but the fact that he’s considered bright does also make me wonder how psychology works in these kinds of, er, “love” stories.
This Brit doesn’t know many people who don’t think this is creepy and wrong. We jailed a teacher in his late 20s not too long ago for having an affair with a 15 year old.
I don’t get the “But Trump!” argument, either. He’s a foul creature on every possible front, including alleged rapist and pretty well proven sexual assaulter, but does that mean nobody committing less egregious offences matters all of a sudden?
Over here, doctors can’t have affairs with patients because of the imbalance of power, nor teachers pupils of any age. If she’d been in her early to mid 20s it would be weird, but easier to understand. But 15 and 39? Seriously? To the point his parents removed him from his school, friends and situation to get him away from it? I’m glad he seems happy and that it hasn’t, by all accounts, damaged him irrevocably, but that doesn’t make it okay either. He never had the chance to grow up independently and decide what he wanted to do without an infinitely older, more experienced person in the equation. And I don’t think I would want that for my own children. Who would?
Yet he is happily married. That should be enough.
That’s got to be a wig, right?
Yep, I think so too.
Everything else about her is so tiny, and then, poof, mega hair – really incongruous
@Sarah – maybe she has a wig or very well place extensions to increase volume. I cannot see and greys and whites in the roots. Dark roots on a 64-year old. I’ve never seen something like that. Also, I cannot understand how come she has such a slim figure and that thick hair.
Exactly, right?
Yes, it has to be. On another note, to me she looks like a much older Olsen twin…but one that smiles and looks happy.
Thank goodness for this question and discussion. I couldn’t understand the hair. It overpowers to the point I can’t see her, just hair and great clothes.
Actually perhaps that is her point. Hmmm.
All I can say is the power imbalance thing at the start sounds very concerning but he’s a grown man now and he’s the one in power so that’s good. I wouldn’t want her life though. I like to be the age I am and not feel held to looking younger than I am. Looking good matters a fair bit but the body ages and I don’t know…I’d hate to be stuck in a position where that felt bad.
I think it is a weave and it is too much hair. He tiny face is lost in all of that hair.
I don’t know if it’s a weave or a wig, but it’s definitely not hers.
No, honey, that’s quite literally YOUR fault. It was YOUR fault you decided to go after a teenager. It wasn’t and isn’t your prey’s “fault” that he’s so much younger than you.
Jesus.
Exactly
Yuck! She’s older than my mother and married to a guy who’s younger than me. When he’s in his 50’s (that is young), he’ll be visiting his wife in the nursing home. In the early 90’s when I was in high school, I never heard anything like students having affairs with students. Teacher and student love affairs seem to be a regular thing these days
Probably because the internet wasn’t a thing yet and it was easier to keep stuff on the DL. Believe me, it happened.
My husband is a band director and I’m horrified at how many of his colleagues dated former students once they had graduated. It was icky when we were all in our mid 20s and just out of college ourselves. A friend of mine from undergrad married one of her former students as soon as he graduated high school. Sure, not technically illegal (so they all keep their jobs), but unethical? Yes.
@PoliteTeaSipper, you are absolutely correct. I graduated in 1999 and I vividly remember intimate relationships between teachers/coaches/counselors and students. It was common knowledge but no one ever got in trouble for it. I greatly attribute that to there being no social media at the time. When I was in high school the internet was not in every home yet either. It must be incredibly difficult to get with these days, as it should be.
One of my college pals had been a cheerleader at our high school. One night she told us how many female athletes and cheerleaders (ages 15-17 at the time) had “dated” male coaches. It was a common thing, apparently.
This was in the 1980s. By being in athletic programs, the girls had excuses for being around the married, age 30s-50s men. Today, it would end up a front page local news story.
In the 70s in my high school it was the science and math teachers girls were warned about. Not all the teachers, but each school had one followed by such disturbing rumours, I was warned not to go for help after class in biology because the teacher was a pervert. I failed biology, sadly. I was interested in it a lot. Wish creepy teachers were fired.
Nope. Still gross
Yuk.
Don’t like the way she dresses. She wears mini skirts, no panty hose, and sleeveless dresses.
Like a go-go dancer in the sixties. I’m a few years older, and at this age, you start covering up, three-quarter length sleeves, knee length skirts etc. Showing off all that bare skin at her age makes her look even older. She has access to some of th best designers in the world, she could look really chic. The above pics seem better, so maybe she’s starting to get it.
accidental post
I disagree with you Maria – there isn’t a set code for how women should dress when they are older, why are you shaming her? I think she has a wonderful fun style and doesn’t look stuffy or too much, mostly she seems confident. But regardless of what I think of her style I just want to point out I really dislike your age shaming her for her style.
I said that I don’t like the way she dresses. Period. I didn’t say it was a fact. People complain about her hair. They are just stating their opinion. I happen to like her hair.
Umm…no, she can dress however she wants. Please let’s not impose on a woman’s freedom to express herself. Let’s not devolve to judging a woman by what she wears. Please don’t be that way.
@maria you said “at this age, you start covering up”
That’s shaming
I think there’s a lot to take issue with when it comes to Mme Macron, but I really like the way she dresses. I think she looks great.
I hate the idea that women should meet some sort of arbitrary old lady dress code. Age is not something to be ashamed of – as the joke goes, it’s better than the alternative.
I honestly think age prejudice is one of the last mainly unquestioned ones, and it troubles me.
Completely agree. I actually love how she dresses. her style is professional, chic but yet fun and young. I hope i dress as well when i’m her age . Why doesn’t anyone criticize older men and women for wearing shorts but God forbid a woman dresses sexily at her age.
I think there is a difference between dressing youthful and dressing too young for your age. I love to see older people who dress stylish and youthful. It is sad when you see older people trying too hard to look young. I think she looks like someone who is self conscience about how much older she is than her husband and she dresses young to not look like he is with his mother. Not shaming just making an observation. As an older woman myself, it is a fine line between looking stylish and looking like an old fool.
I live in France and I can assure you NO ONE CARES. Macron has taken a huge dip in the polls but it’s because of his politics. At this moment I think Brigitte is more popular in France than he is.
Do they not care because they think the marriage is something private and not relevant to Macron’s political role? Or is it because an affair between a much older woman and much younger man is not perceived as inappropriate?
Didn’t care from day 1 because the politics were what mattered and I already knew they would be crappy. Buyers remorse is starting to grow but too bad so sad.
I’m going to be completely honest though, it was not the same situation as in the US because remember our other was Marine so…giant NO.
However it’s high time the media stop glossing over his election.
People voted against someone and not for someone and it tends to be overlooked (obviously).
Having said that, I’m also over the bashing she gets from the media because it’s about her age but in a purely aesthetic way. She’s not supposed to be an ornament for l’Elysée.
Probably both. Mitterand had a secret love child, Chirac multiple mistresses, Sarko was remarried to Carla Bruni who is very unpopular in France. Holland cheated on his girlfriend with another girlfriend. So after seeing how all the other presidents go through women like Kleenex, maybe people are willing to give this long term relationship a pass.
I think Brigitte sells in France which is why she’s on the cover of Elle. People thought Cheetos treatment of her this summer was super ridiculous and she has been very dignified in her public appearances. Her husband’s good will is coming to an end, but her’s is still going strong.
Agree with Mel.
I suspect it’s because she wasn’t the one running. If she were the running, I think the relationship would have gotten more scrutiny. Even though he’s part of the relationship, I don’t think he can truly answer for how a 39 year old might fall for a 15 year old.
I am French and I live in France. Most people I know find the beginning of their relationship creepy but we don’t think about it all day.
But what is so annoying is the way they flaunt their relationship all over the place. It reminds me so much of the way Sarkozy was using his private life (both pre and post Carla Bruni)
I can’t with them. I can’t with her ridiculous “cagole” hair !
I know how to use Google so I don’t expect you to do my research for me but can you or another French C/Ber give me a couple examples of what he’s doing wrong?
Forgive my American ignorance, but I’m on a 100% Trump News diet these days and find myself falling out of touch with what’s happening politically in the rest of the world.
He’s doing nothing wrong. He is simply a deeply unconventionnal human being an politician, so the Left AND the Right hate him. Being a centrist, I’m happy with him – for now 🙂
It’s a combination of maby things.
His government is preparing a reform of our labour code to loosen régulation : firing will be easier, wages and working time will be discussed inside the companies as opposed to branch/industries agreement meaning employees and unions will loose power. To add offence to injury the new text will not be submitted to our national assembly (congress) but be passed by ordonnance (executive decree)
He pushed back an électoral promise to exonerate 80% of population from one of our local taxes pretexting that our financial state is worth than he thought (sure Bro you weren’t Minister for economic affairs until August 2016)
As a result of this financial one of his first decision was to decrease housing support. Not fight against tax evasion, reduce our representativest’ salaries… As the same time the government want to reform tax for super Rich people : I’ll let you guess which way it goes.
Following the orders of our Minister of Home Affairs police forces are treating migrants in a inhumane way : preventing GNO to bring them water, pepperspraying their food, tracking them days and night… (I advise you to Google it : it makes me so ashamed)
The first head of state he received was Putin. It didn’t go very well. Then he invited Trump to the 14th July
And so on …
I am probably forgeting Many things but you have an idea.
I think it’s just that the honeymoon is over. I never thought Holland was great OR terrible but he had worse approval ratings than Trump. French people love to complain and are constantly dissatisfied (I say this as someone who loves the French people and culture).
You know what bothers me the most? This legend that he is unconventional.
He is EXACTLY like the others before him.
There’s nothing new about him.
It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Glad you see nothing wrong.
Tell that to the people losing the APL (a small benefit to help low income people)
I’m also happy that elected officials won’t be discriminated against because they don’t have a clean record whereas the lowest entry job requires that you don’t have a single stain on yours.
I’m also glad that after being frozen for several years, my salary (which had been very briefly unfrozen during the campaign because, duh) is once again frozen.
Same goes for my father who is retired and still isn’t seeing the end of the drought.
I’m also super happy for the extremely wealthy who will get a nice tax cut.
People were MARCHING last year denouncing a law that bore his name! My mind is blown!
I’m also ecstatic that he can joke about the illegal immigrants coming to France through the Dom Tom daily with plenty of victims…
I could go on and on. He’s an elitist hidden behind a cool and hip façade. I’d respect him more if he didn’t try to pretend to be what he’s not.
Parigo: I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt so I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but you should know that your last statement about the French complaining comes off extremely condescending.
I’m the first one to joke about it when the line is too long or it’s raining and what not but I don’t associate it with people struggling on a day to day basis to make ends meet. That’s just inappropriate and tone deaf.
Parigo you’re right. We French complain endlessly about anything.
For the rest I’ll leave it here…
Thank you guys for weighing in. Interesting to hear the differing perspectives.
Sounds like Macron is what we would call a “neoliberal” in the States, since we don’t have true centrists here and not many true progressives.
“I’m also glad that after being frozen for several years, my salary (which had been very briefly unfrozen during the campaign because, duh) is once again frozen.”
Who is freezing your salary? Your employer or the govt? How/why would they do that?
RE: French people complaining, my French mother says the same thing lol.
(Don’t shoot the messenger!)
I think it’s probably due to the fact that compared to Americans, French people as a whole are far more political.
And lastly, not to minimize your very real problems with Macron, but just remember: it could be worse, you could have LePen.
Hell, I would trade Trump for LePen at this point if that was an option.
Kitty: I’m a teacher and the government is my boss so that’s how my salary is frozen: cuts in public spending which includes my salary.
Believe me I do think about Marine and I keep thinking that it gets closer every election…
Also, I did acknowledge the complaining.
I often tell my sister “I’m French, it’s my divine right to complain!”
Truth is I do feel passionately about it because my parents have struggled pretty much their whole lives to provide for my sister and I and then I look at my mom’s health today due to her physically demanding job and know she’ll retire in a few years with barely nothing since her income has always been so low. I guess the older I get, the lower tolerance I have for politicians pulling the same old tricks and pretending to be new stuff.
The last presidential election was just…I have no words…
You had the fascist (ok, like a cockroach she’s always there), the guy who just hands out hundreds of thousands euros of public money to his family, the anarchist who has all but become a parody of himself and the media’s candidate, Macron. (Others as well, smaller profiles)
It was the battle of the egos. I never get the feeling that they are in this to serve the country. Its a shame.
Mel: Sorry, I didn’t mean to be condescending. I’m an American expat living in France for the last 20 years, married to a Frenchman. Enjoying to complain is just something I see as being quite French like enjoying talking, drinking, smoking etc…
Most of my friends are pro-Mélenchon, but I was pro Macron and still am.
Amelie a few comments down summed it up better than I did:
“Genuine question: when was the last time a French president had great approval ratings? It seems no matter who is in power the French grumble and complain. I realize no president will be universally loved but as far as I can remember, no one seemed to love Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, and now Macron….”
Totally agree with her whole post below.
It makes me really uncomfortable as a separate issue, but I do kind of love that the French are so pragmatic on this stuff. It shouldn’t be relevant, personal life stuff, unless there is a conflict in ethics terms.
I also live in France and I can assure you EVERYONE I KNOW CARES.
Wow, really???
My husband’s family are life long mainstream Socialists, most of my friends are far left. Again, if they don’t like Macron it’s because of his politics. Brigitte never comes up in conversations as an “issue”.
@Parigo
Maybe that explains our different experiences – I have friends on the left, but the majority of people where I live are right or far right.
Didn’t Mary Kay Letourneau get into tons of trouble in America for screwing a student?
Yeah, but he was well under the age of consent, like 11-12. Macron was over the legal age of consent in France.
ETA-just went to look. He was 12 when she raped him (as his sixth grade teacher), but she has made previous comments about how special he was even when she taught him in second grade.
“felt I had to live ‘this love’ as Prevert used to say, to be fully happy.”
I’m so sorry, but I read “as a pervert used to say”
Me too 😀
must’ve been a Freudian slip 😀
Asif, I read it the same way as well. At the end of the day, it’s just gross. And I can’t imagine being the inlaws, having to see this woman who clearly groomed and by all definitions assaulted a young impressionable boy. Plus she has crazy face.
If I’m not mistaken his parents are younger than her or either close in age. It has to be awkward. And honestly if my dad or mom started dating someone my age or close to it (I’m 31) I would be disgusted and not approve.
She’s creepy and he’s a neoliberal. Charming (not).
Her wig is ridiculous as usual, but she looks much better in jeans and a blazer than the mini skirts!
She’s a creepy child abusing sexual predator. No matter how many glossy magazine covers she graces. No matter how fabulous and chic she is. No matter the narrative of their ” beautiful love story”. She makes me sick.
Genuine question: when was the last time a French president had great approval ratings? It seems no matter who is in power the French grumble and complain. I realize no president will be universally loved but as far as I can remember, no one seemed to love Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, and now Macron. Is there any person elected in the history of the Fifth Republic that was ever considered a good president? I wasn’t alive when Charles de Gaulle was president and I know there were a few others in between before Chirac became president (really the first French president I can remember following when my dad used to watch the 30 minute French news back when it used to air on Channel 21 WLIW). But the French do love to complain so I’m just going to chalk it up to that. The French loved Barack Obama and if he somehow were to be French president (which isn’t possible obviously), they would still complain somehow (like the fact he doesn’t speak French, ha).
As for Brigitte, she doesn’t offend my sensibilities but I am not a huge fan either. Macron’s love life is pretty tame when you compare it to previous French presidents. Mittérand had a secret daughter from an extramarital affair, Chirac had lots of mistresses it seems, Sarkozy and his ex-wife Cecilia were openly dating other people while married before Sarkozy ended up with Carla Bruni, and Hollande cheated on his mistress-turned-girlfriend-turned First Lady with another mistress (and that is the SECOND time he had cheated on a partner publicly, Valerie Trierweiler was his mistress while he was with his ex Segolene Royal). When you add all that up together, Macron and Brigitte getting together when he was 15 or 19, whichever you believe, is not that scandalous when you compare him to his predecessors and rather ho-hum. Also add to the fact that this happened even before he was president, it’s old news. (All the other presidents had drama in their personal lives while they were in office).
This. None of them had great approval ratings. Goes with the territory.
I read “Prevert” as “Pervert” 😂
Seems more appropriate.
Meh. I’m American, and while it does strike me as a bit creepy the way it began, I really don’t care. Maybe I should move to France lol it would sure beat Kentucky where you can’t fart without your neighbors all up in your business.
He came back on his own at 19, nobody forced him. And he has being with this woman since then. They keep talking about it because people keep obsessing with it.
can someone french explain me why the disapproval ratings are high? thanks!
I’m not French, but I’m married to a Frenchman and have lived here for the past 10 years.
This Vox article does a good job of explaining:
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/14/16114640/emmanuel-macron-unpopular
When I look at her I see Jane Fonda LOL
Jane Fonda looks younger at 79 than she does at 64.
And your only fault is you groomed a child, had a decades long affair with him while you were married and then married him months after divorcing your husband. When your children are older than the guy you re-married, that’s creepy. When those same children were also his schoolmates, that’s just wrong. When you were the teacher for those same children AND your victim, you are sick.
I really don’t think she’s very attractive…way too thin and it looks like she might be a heavy smoker, both wreck havoc on your face.
Oh my god I can’t believe the post and the comments.. What high morality you all have. Really they have been together for 20 years, her family has campaigned strongly for him and they all seems really close so let it go. if it was the contrary we will probably not have the same conversation. And the talk about wigs and longer of skirt..awful., prevert and pervert??? yes so funny…I am disappointed really, passing judgement on everyone all the time must be really exhausted I really think you should choose your battle. But thumbs up for your high principles, if only everybody was married to someone you approve the world will be better.
This website is called “Celebitchy”. If you came here for nonjudgemental niceties, you had best leave.
If you want to stay, make sure you have your smelling salts nearby.
“if it was the contrary we will probably not have the same conversation. ” If it was the contrary, you better believe it’d be absolutely worse. Brigitte is getting a HUGE pass from people because she is a woman, even though she was a married teacher with children his age when their relationship began. People think women can’t be predators.
laet if you read this I’m with you. No pantyhose! Extensions! Dear god Brigitte dress for your age despite your smoking figure! Whatever dressing for your age means?
Honestly it must be a European thing, we couldn’t give a flip about politicians private lives, just their politics. She looks great