What the French REALLY think about Macron ‘slap’ video: The people of Paris give their views on viral moment… with some very surprising views

A viral video appearing to show the French first lady slapping her husband President Emmanuel Macron has left viewers stunned and sparked a social media frenzy. 

While some internet users are convinced the video showed a playful tap, or a clearly edited clip, others have seen it as rare glimpse into the French couple’s perfectly polished image. 

Speaking to reporters in Hanoi on Monday, Macron said that the incident had been overblown, insisting: ‘I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife. It’s nothing.’ 

Earlier in the day, an Elysee official said: ‘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.’

But some Parisians appear to disagree, and are struggling to see the humour in the interaction. 

Speaking to MailOnline, Paris resident Julie Galbardini said: ‘I’m very shocked about it because he represents France. I don’t understand what happened. 

‘I don’t think it was a joke because I [saw] the reaction of the president, and I don’t think it’s a joke, she commented, adding that ‘French women don’t do that on camera.’

Another Parisian, Victoria Nakache said that the interaction between President Macron and his wife ‘completely shocked’ her. 

French President Emmanuel Macron’s appears to be shoved in the face by his wife, Brigitte, who then refuses to take his hand to walk down plane steps as they arrive in Vietnam

MailOnline took to the streets of Paris to get locals’ reactions to the infamous clip 

‘I asked myself, what happens behind the screens?’. 

Another woman, named only as Ambre, chimed in: ‘I was so surprised, it shouldn’t be tolerated that a wife slaps her husband in front of the TV cameras…it really isn’t normal.’

The pair also commented on the French president’s reaction to the slap, who seemingly played it down. 

‘He wants to keep a good image,’ Ambre said. 

‘But we are all humans…but you shouldn’t show scenes of violence. It’s not normal.’

Others, however, have found no issue with the alleged slap, highlighting how the exchange was a clear playful moment between husband and wife. 

‘It was so funny. I have laughed hard,’ Laora Yafondo told MailOnline. 

‘I think it was a joke between a woman and a man, a wife and a husband…Women in France are so sweet with their husbands. It was a joke,’ she added. 

A woman, named only as Catherine, doesn’t believe the French First Lady would slap her husband

A woman named Ambre told MailOline said the slap should not be tolerated

Laora Yafondo found humour in the exchange, and said she believes the interaction between Macron and his wife was a joke 

Some Parisians are unsure whether the couple were arguing or joking, but either way, they believe that the whole exchange between the Macrons was blown out of proportion.

‘I didn’t think it was a slap, more simply I thought they were in the middle of speaking and she shut his mouth with her hands. I think a mountain had been made out of nothing,’ Annette Weber told MailOnline. 

‘It’s a big fuss over nothing, it’s like everything on social media, when they have something negative to say they will cover it’, she added. 

Another woman named only as Catherine said: ‘First reaction? I didn’t quite believe it. I just think it was a bad gesture, or something like that. 

‘I don’t think Madame Macron would’ve hit her husband in front of everyone, but that’s my opinion. I hope it wasn’t a slap anyway, that’d be a shame for him.’ 

Parisians’ reactions come after footage showing the moment the couple touched down in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday evening emerged. 

The video first shows the French President’s plane door opening to reveal him.

Suddenly, his wife Brigitte’s arms emerge from the left of the open doorway as she placed both hands on her husband’s face and gives it a shove. 

Julie Galbardini found the video shocking and does not believe that the slap was a joke 

Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening showed Macron’s plane door opening to reveal him being shoved

The couple then proceeded down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron refused her husband’s offered arm

French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive at Hanoi University of Science and Technology

Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron board their plane for departure, clasping one another’s hands

The clip of the couple on the jet was at first described as inauthentic by Macron’s office, before it was quickly confirmed to be genuine. Pictured: Macron arriving in Jakarta, Indonesia as he continues his South East Asian tour

Macron cautioned that this was not the first time in recent weeks that the content of videos of him had been twisted by people

France’s President Emmanuel Macron (2nd L) and Vietnam’s Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (C) take part in an event for a joint venture between French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company Sanofi and Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) during a visit to the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi on May 27, 2025

A student holds Vietnamese and French national flags during a visit by France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron to the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi

Macron’s visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in almost a decade, comes as he aims to boost France’s influence in its former colony

But their tour of south east Asia now threatens to be overshadowed by the now-viral footage of Sunday night’s incident

The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. 

The video circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.

The clip of the couple on the jet was at first described as inauthentic by Macron’s office, before it was quickly confirmed to be genuine. 

Macron cautioned that this was not the first time in recent weeks that the content of videos of him had been twisted by people he described as ‘crackpots’.

Earlier this month, France furiously denied a fake claim that President Macron hid a bag of cocaine while posing for a photograph with Keir Starmer and Germany’s Friedrich Merz.

The trio met earlier this month aboard a train travelling from Poland to Ukraine to visit President Volodymyr Zelensky and to pressure Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire. 

Pro-Russian keyboard warriors were quick to fuel wild conspiracy theories that a white object on the table was drugs, but the  French government quickly clarified that the item in question was in fact a tissue.

Macron’s visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in almost a decade, comes as he aims to boost France’s influence in its former colony.

But their tour of south east Asia now threatens to be overshadowed by the now-viral footage of Sunday night’s incident. 

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