Brigitte Macron shoved her husband’s face as they arrived in Vietnam

When Emmanuel Macron was first elected President of France, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about his background with his wife Brigitte. Brigitte and Emmanuel met when he was 15 years old and she was around 40 years old and his married teacher (with young children). Their relationship allegedly began when he was in his teens, although his parents reportedly separated them for a time. He eventually finished school and Brigitte eventually divorced her husband. Emmanuel and Brigitte married in 2007, and their marriage is still treated like an oddity, although French people seem to have a higher tolerance for “politicians in unconventional personal situationships.” Anyway, the Macrons’ marriage is once again making international news because of what happened when they flew to Vietnam for a state visit.

French Pres. Emmanuel Macron appeared to be pushed in the face by his wife Brigitte Macron as they arrived in Vietnam, the first stop of a Southeast Asia tour. https://t.co/nqzICGPpeY pic.twitter.com/VQnNSpMm1K

— ABC News (@ABC) May 26, 2025

It’s bad. This happened at the start of the Macrons’ five-day Asian tour, and I can only assume that it was one terrible flight, and the next five days are going to be awkward as hell. President Macron actually confirmed that the video is real, but he said that it was not as bad as everyone thinks:

The door of a plane carrying the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had just been opened by staff in Hanoi, Vietnam, when two hands reached out and pushed Mr. Macron smack in the face. He looked stunned at first. Then he looked up at a camera filming the scene from outside on Sunday and waved.

The video spread quickly. The hands belonged to the French first lady, Brigitte Macron.

On Monday, Mr. Macron said that the video had captured him and his wife “bickering and rather, joking around,” something, he said, “we often do.”

“I’m surprised by it, it turns into some kind of global catastrophe where people are even coming up with theories to explain it,” he said on Monday. “It’s nonsense.”

Mr. Macron, whose arrival in Vietnam marked the start of a five-day state trip to Southeast Asia, said it was the latest in a string of disinformation put out by “crazy people” targeting him in recent weeks. The footage was real, he said, but the interpretations were fake.

[From The NY Times]

I mean, if the genders were reversed and Pres. Macron was just “joking around” by putting his hands on his wife’s face, people would be outraged, and justifiably so. I don’t know what’s happening in the Macrons’ marriage or what have you, but this will become fodder for Pres. Macron’s political enemies. Plus, it just makes it look like Brigitte is abusive to the husband she groomed from a young age.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.