French president Francois Hollande is threatening legal action against a magazine that accused him of having an affair with married actress 20 years his junior.
French magazine Closer said today the 59-year-old president was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, backing its claim with photographs after months of swirling rumours.
Closer’s Friday edition carried a seven-page report on the alleged infidelity under the headline ‘Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet — the president’s secret love’.
The weekly tabloid’s actions earned a rapid rebuke from the president, who said he was considering legal action over what he called an ‘attack’ on his right to privacy.
Closer, echoing reports published on various websites in recent days, said Hollande routinely drives through Paris on his scooter to spend the night with his 41-year-old mistress.
‘Around New Year’s Day, a helmeted head of state joined the actress at her apartment, where he has got into the habit of spending the night,’ Closer wrote on its website.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Hollande condemned the report as an ‘attack on the right to privacy,’ to which he ‘like every other citizen has a right’.
