French President Emmanuel Macron rejected media claims on Monday that a video of him being punched in the face by his wife Brigitte, was a "family scene," saying they were just "horsing around."
"We were arguing, or rather just horsing around with my wife, but to my surprise it became a kind of planetary catastrophe. People are saying a lot of stupid things. Everyone needs to calm down," Macron told reporters during a visit to Vietnam, as broadcast by the Elysee Palace on X.
The president and his wife arrived in Vietnam on May 25. Journalists capturing the moment of Macron's exit from the plane recorded an incident where he was struck in the face by his wife.
In the video, Brigitte is not visible, but it is clear that her hands are pushing the president quite forcefully into his chin.
Initially, the Elysee Palace denied the authenticity of the footage, but when it became known that many media outlets had circulated the video, a source close to the president said that it was a "family quarrel."
