Hollande may sue magazine over affair claims

French President François Hollande has threatened legal action over a magazine report saying he is having a secret affair with an actress, the latest breach in the French media’s practice of turning a blind eye to presidential love affairs.

Rumours have long circulated that Hollande might have a lover. The magazine Closer published images showing a bodyguard and a helmeted man it says is Hollande visiting the apartment of Julie Gayet, a moderately known French actress who appeared in a clip for his 2012 presidential campaign.

Oh dear! François #Hollande is 'having an affair' with married French actress Julie Gayet, #Closer mag claims today. pic.twitter.com/lrqkAvm3Tu

— Nabila Ramdani ⭐️⭐️ نبيلة رمضاني (@NabilaRamdani) January 10, 2014

French media face strict privacy laws, as well as a long-time tradition of ignoring the private lives of public figures.

Former president François Mitterrand had a daughter with his lover that the French media knew about but never revealed, until the president himself appeared publicly with his daughter coming out of a restaurant.

But the publication marked the latest incursion into the once-sacred private lives of French politicians. The tradition of keeping private lives private has been chipped away since Hollande’s predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his wife and remarried Carla Bruni, with whom he had been having an affair.

Bloggers, tweeters, and other online sources have tapped into public curiosity and pushed the borders of French privacy. Closer last made a splash when it published topless photos of Kate Middleton.

Hollande said in a statement he “deeply deplores the attacks on respect for privacy, to which each citizen has a right”. He is weighing possible action, including via the courts, it said. He did not address the alleged affair.

Hollande has never married. He had four children with politician Segolene Royal, and has been living in recent years with journalist Valerie Trierweiler, considered France’s first lady.

Gayet, who has performed in dozens of films and sometimes appears on talk shows, praises Hollande in the campaign spot for his humility and character, and says he is someone who “really listens”.

Closer published images it says show one of Hollande’s bodyguards at the door to Gayet’s building, and a motorcyclist arriving to drop off a helmeted man on the night of Dec 30 and escorting him away the next morning. The magazine says the alleged affair raises questions about the president’s security, if he is sneaking out with a single bodyguard, and travelling exposed on the back of a motorcycle.

It is unclear how a potential romantic scandal might affect Hollande’s presidency. His popularity is already very low, largely over voter frustration at his failure to reduce unemployment and get the economy growing.

Last year, according to French media reports, Gayet filed a lawsuit accusing some websites of invasion of privacy over reports on the alleged affair. Her lawyer issued a statement at the time saying she was targeting “a rumour spread on the internet that attributes to her, without any basis, a romantic relationship with the president”.

The magazine says it conducted an investigation and claims that “there is, between François Hollande and Julie Gayet... a true passion that has turned their hearts upside down, rocked their lives, and made them take foolish risks”.

It says the apartment is in the same Paris district as the president’s palace, and is Gayet’s but registered in the name of actor friends. It says the pair have been meeting there since June.