French President Emmanuel Macron has brushed off speculation surrounding a viral video that appeared to show a tense moment between him and First Lady Brigitte Macron as they arrived in Vietnam over the weekend, saying the couple was merely “horsing around.”
The clip, captured by waiting cameras as the French presidential plane landed in Hanoi on Sunday, sparked a flurry of commentary in both French and international media. In the footage, Brigitte Macron — wearing a red jacket — appears to push her husband’s face with both hands as he stands inside the aircraft. Macron recoils, momentarily startled, before breaking into a smile and offering a wave upon realizing the cameras were rolling.
Despite the speculation, including headlines like Le Parisien’s “Slap or ‘Squabble’?,” President Macron firmly denied any signs of discord.
“We are horsing around and, really, joking with my wife,” Macron told reporters. “It becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe,” he added, criticizing what he called the overblown reaction.
The president also took the opportunity to address broader concerns over misinformation, referencing other viral moments — including a debunked claim that he was seen sharing a bag of cocaine and another supposedly showing a confrontation with the Turkish president. “None of these are true,” he said. “Everyone needs to calm down.”
A statement from the presidential office echoed Macron’s remarks, characterizing the moment as a lighthearted exchange: “It was a moment where the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by horsing around. It’s a moment of complicity. It was all that was needed to give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists.”
Following the moment inside the plane, Macron was seen offering his arm to Brigitte at the top of the stairs, though she did not take it. The couple descended side by side, appearing composed despite the stir the video had already caused.
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron’s relationship has long drawn public interest. The two met when he was a high school student and she was a teacher supervising the drama club. Though she was then a married mother of three, their bond endured — culminating in their marriage in 2007 after Brigitte’s divorce.
The French leader is currently in Southeast Asia for a diplomatic tour, with the Hanoi stop marking the beginning of the trip. Despite the brief media storm, the Macrons appeared unfazed as they continued with their official duties.
