Brigitte Macron says time as French first lady laid bare the ‘wickedness and stupidity’ of the world

Brigitte Macron said her time as first lady of France has made her more cynical about the world in a bleak reflection as her husband announced he would step back from politics after next year’s presidential election.

Ms Macron, 73, told French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche that the public-facing job at the top of French politics had left her “sometimes sadder than I have ever been”, having exposed her to the “darkness of the world, the stupidity, the wickedness”.

During Emmanuel Macron’s two-term tenure as president of France, Ms Macron has been subjected to vicious attacks and conspiracy theories from online critics, forcing her into a series of lengthy legal battles.

“Before, I had a normal life, children, a job, ups and downs, like everyone else. Here, these ten years have passed so quickly … They have been so intense,” she told the outlet.

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Reflecting on how her life had been changed by public life, the former teacher admitted: “Sometimes I find it hard to see the blue sky. I have moments of pessimism that I didn’t have before.”

Earlier this year, ten people were found guilty of cyber-bullying Ms Macron after spreading false claims about her gender and sexuality, as well as making “malicious remarks” about the 24-year age gap between her and her husband, 48.

The Macrons have pursued a high-profile defamation lawsuit against American right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who promoted claims that she was born a man online.

Tom Clare, their lead counsel in the case, said last year that the couple had found the claims “extremely upsetting”. He noted Ms Macron would have to “subject herself in a very public way” in order to “set the record straight”.

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The case dates back years to baseless allegations included in an article in 2021 and later promoted in a viral YouTube video.

Ms Owens picked up the thread in 2024, announcing that she was “waging her entire professional reputation” on the theory that Ms Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her older brother, before transitioning.

In a 22-count complaint filed last July, the Macrons accused Ms Owens of a “campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies”. The ongoing case seeks unspecified damages.

Over the last ten years, Ms Macron has used her platform to support people with disabilities, protect vulnerable children and campaign against school bullying.

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She has also attracted controversy, including over a video that appeared to show her slapping her husband during an official visit to Vietnam last year.

Cameras caught the moment Ms Macron pushed her husband in the face as their plane arrived in Hanoi for the start of their southeast Asian tour.

The French leader, who was standing in the doorway of the plane, looked momentarily stunned after the then-unidentified hand hit him in the face.

Playing down headline scrutiny, Mr Macron insisted he was “bickering, or rather joking, with my wife”.

Three months later, Ms Macron had to defend herself after she was filmed using a sexist slur to describe feminist protesters who had disrupted a theatre performance in Paris.

She said she had been trying to reassure French actor Ary Abittan when she called the activists “dirty b*****s”. Ms Macron admitted her language had been “very direct” and “clumsy”.

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