Hollande threatens legal action over report of affair
Print Edition
A French magazine alleged yesterday that Francois Hollande drives through the Paris streets on a scooter to spend the night with his mistress, raising concerns for the security of the head-of-state.
Hollande reacted furiously to the allegation — backed up by photos reportedly showing the president entering the flat of actress Julie Gayet — but did not deny it, threatening legal action over what he called an attack on his right to privacy.
Closer’s edition yesterday carried a seven-page report on the 59-year-old president’s alleged infidelity under the headline “Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet — the president’s secret love.”
“It’s a real passion that has ... turned their lives upside down and makes them take insane risks,” the magazine wrote.
To back up its claims, the magazine printed photos of Gayet, 41, arriving at a flat in an upmarket part of Paris on December 30, not far from the Elysee Palace where Hollande lives.
Half-an-hour later, a man whom they identify as Hollande’s bodyguard inspects the hallway of the apartment block before the arrival of a scooter with two helmeted men on board, one of whom they say is Hollande — although his face is never revealed.
The alleged bodyguard, however, does show his face and is identified as part of Hollande’s official security detail.
The next day, according to the photos, the alleged bodyguard arrives at the flat around 8am with a small bag that Closer says contains croissants. Three hours later, a helmeted man is pictured mounting a chauffeur-driven scooter under the eyes of the alleged bodyguard.
Hollande slammed the report as an attack on the right to privacy, to which he “like every other citizen has a right.”
The president said he was “looking into possible action, including legal action.” But he did not deny the allegations.
Rumors that Hollande is having an affair with Gayet, a mother-of-two, have swirled for months.
Hollande lives with his partner Valerie Trierweiler, a journalist for whom he left fellow Socialist politician Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children.
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