Brigitte Macron has revealed that her time as France's First Lady has exposed her to the 'stupidity' and 'wickedness' of the world. The former drama teacher, 73, said her years beside her husband Emmanuel Macron as he led France for nearly a decade have made her sadder and more cynical.
Brigitte's candid reflections
In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Brigitte said: 'Before, I had a normal life, children, a job, ups and downs, like everyone else. Here, these 10 years have passed so quickly. They have been so intense. I have seen the darkness of the world, stupidity, wickedness. It's sometimes difficult for me to see the blue sky. I have moments of pessimism that I didn't have before.'
The highly public role she has held since 2017 invited intense scrutiny of everything from her relationship with her husband to even whether she was a woman. Right-wing US podcaster Candace Owens has long accused Brigitte of being a transgender woman, based on statements by Amandine Roy, a 53-year-old clairvoyant, and Natacha Rey, a 49-year-old blogger.
Transgender allegations and legal action
Ms Roy and Ms Rey appeared on a four-hour YouTube video in December 2021 claiming that Brigitte was born as a baby boy called Jean-Michel Trogneux in 1953. This is actually the name of Brigitte's brother; Ms Macron was called Brigitte Trogneux before her first marriage. Owens seized on the claims, producing multiple episodes of her podcast 'Becoming Brigitte' repeating the allegations. In 2024, she said she would stake her 'entire professional reputation' on her belief that Mrs Macron 'is in fact a man.' The assertions were so damaging that the Macrons sued Owens in the US in 2025, alleging she had been spreading 'outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions.'
Public spat caught on camera
In May 2025, Macron's office admitted that his wife Brigitte hit him during a row, after footage showed the First Lady appearing to push his face away as their plane touched down in Vietnam. Shocking video from the Associated Press in Hanoi shows the French President's plane door opening to reveal him. Brigitte's arms then emerge from the left of the open doorway, placing both hands on her husband's face and giving it a shove. The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language. The couple then proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband's offered arm.
Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images before confirming them as genuine. A close associate later described the incident as a harmless 'squabble.' An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it showed an argument, saying: 'It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh. It was a moment of closeness.' Another source added: 'It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around. It's a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists.'
Background of the Macron relationship
Even before the slap, the couple faced hurtful speculation about their beginnings. In 1992, when the future president was a schoolboy at La Providence high school in Amiens, he first developed deep affection for his drama teacher, the then 40-year-old Brigitte Auzière, who was married with three young children. Some claim the relationship became dangerously irresponsible – allegations both parties have always denied – but Ms Macron later admitted that being romantically linked 'with such a young boy was crippling,' especially in a close-knit, Roman Catholic community. She spoke of the rumours her own son and two daughters – one a classmate of young Emmanuel – had to deal with, saying: 'You can imagine what they were hearing. But I didn't want to miss out on my life.' The couple finally wed in 2007, a decade before Mr Macron came from nowhere to win the French presidency as an independent candidate.
