A new book is offering a dramatically different explanation for one of last year\u2019s most widely shared political moments, though the account is already being disputed. French journalist Florian Tardif alleges, based on unnamed sources close to the couple, that Brigitte Macron confronted her husband during a flight to Vietnam in May 2025 after discovering messages on his phone from Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani \u2014 directly contradicting President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s insistence that the incident was nothing more than a private joke between spouses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A viral video from May 2025, originally published by the Associated Press, showed Mr. Macron standing at the aircraft door as the presidential Airbus opened in Hanoi when his wife\u2019s hands appeared and made contact with his face. Mr. Macron brushed off the episode at the time, saying the pair had simply been laughing together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr. Tardif, a political editor at Paris Match, challenges that account in his book \u201cUn Couple (Presque) Parfait\u201d<\/a> (\u201cAn Almost Perfect Couple\u201d), published Wednesday by Albin Michel. Speaking on RTL France, he said the incident stemmed from a jealous outburst after Ms. Macron saw a message from Ms. Farahani on her husband\u2019s phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the messages allegedly discovered was a compliment in which the president told Ms. Farahani he found her \u201cvery pretty.\u201d Mr. Tardif says Mr. Macron maintained what he characterizes as a months-long platonic but flirtatious digital relationship with the actress, and that the messages \u201cwent quite far,\u201d according to close friends who passed them along to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms. Macron\u2019s entourage flatly rejected the account. \u201cBrigitte Macron categorically denied this account directly to the author on March 5th, specifying that she never looks at her husband\u2019s mobile phone,\u201d a spokesperson told Le Parisien. The First Lady has separately attributed the Hanoi incident to exhaustion rather than marital discord.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr. Tardif says he informed the Elysee Palace before publication that the book\u2019s account differed from the official version, and that the palace has since come to \u201cregret\u201d its communications around the episode \u2014 saying the moment could have been an opportunity to present the Macrons as a real couple rather than a perfect one. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ms. Farahani, 42, is an internationally recognized<\/a> Iranian-French actress known for her roles in \u201cExtraction,\u201d \u201cBody of Lies\u201d and \u201cPirates of the Caribbean.\u201d She has been a vocal critic of the Tehran regime. When asked about the rumors while promoting her film \u201cAlpha\u201d in August 2025, she denied them directly in an interview with Gala magazine.<\/p>\n \n This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and\/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy<\/a> or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com<\/a>\n <\/p>\n