French President Emmanuel Macron has responded to a viral video that sparked a wave of speculation by appearing to show his wife, Brigitte Macron, hitting him in the face.
The footage, captured by the Associated Press, shows the 47-year-old president standing at the entrance of an aircraft at Hanoi Airport. As the door opens, Brigitte’s hands are seen moving toward his face in what some viewers interpreted as a light shove.
Macron appears momentarily startled, then quickly turns to wave at the press before the couple proceeds up the stairs. Notably, Brigitte declines to take his extended arm.
The clip rapidly spread across social media and news platforms, igniting commentary from various sources—including Russian state media and far-right figures in France—who used it to fuel speculation about the state of the couple’s relationship.
Initially, officials at the Élysée Palace dismissed the video as likely “fake news.” However, President Macron later acknowledged that the footage was real but insisted it had been taken entirely out of context.
“There’s this video of me joking with my wife, and suddenly it’s treated as a global crisis, with wild theories being circulated,” Macron said in comments reported by News.com.au.
“We were just messing around, having a bit of fun. I was caught off guard, but it was nothing more than a playful moment—yet people twist it into a geopolitical issue. It’s absurd.”
The Guardian quoted an Élysée Palace spokesperson who reiterated the president’s statement, describing the incident as “a shared moment of lightness” between the couple.
The spokesperson explained that Macron and Brigitte were simply “unwinding before starting official duties in Southeast Asia.”
Since Brigitte’s face was not visible in the clip, the palace added that conspiracy theorists had blown the situation out of proportion. “It wasn’t even a slap,” one palace insider remarked.
This is not the first time Macron has been at the center of a viral misinformation campaign. An earlier video falsely accused him of using cocaine during a diplomatic train journey to Kyiv alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
In that clip, Macron is seen picking up a tissue from a table, which some social media users falsely claimed was an attempt to conceal drugs.
French officials swiftly debunked the rumor, clarifying that the president had simply retrieved a tissue to blow his nose. They condemned the false narrative as part of an ongoing disinformation effort aimed at undermining France.
“When European unity becomes inconvenient, fake news takes root—even something as harmless as a tissue gets twisted into a drug scandal,” a government statement read.
“These lies are being spread by both foreign adversaries and domestic opponents. We must remain alert to such manipulation.”
Reflecting on the series of distorted videos, Macron added, “People have claimed I was on drugs, that I got into a brawl with the Turkish president, and now that I’m in a domestic fight with my wife. None of it is true. Everyone needs to take a breath and relax.”
