The French magazine Closer recently published reports and pictures indicating French President Francois Hollande is having a secret affair with actress Julie Gayet who appeared in a video supporting his presidential campaign in 2012, the Associated Press reported.
France has always imposed strict privacy laws on the media, and in return the media have turned an uninterested eye to president affairs or personal issues over the years, according to the AP.
The French media has been so disinterested in politician's personal lives that former French President Francois Mitterrand conceived a daughter with his lover. Though the French media knew of the child, it was never reported on it until he made a public appearance with her, the AP reported.
The images in question published by Closer show a bodyguard and a man wearing a helmet, who the magazine claims is Hollande, being dropped off and picked up in front of Gayet's apartment building on Dec. 30, the AP reported.
After the magazine published the story, which focused on the safety issues of the president taking motorcycle rides with only one bodyguard, Hollande said he was deliberating taking legal actions through the courts, according to the AP.
In a statement Hollande said he "deeply deplores the attacks on respect for privacy, to which each citizen has a right," the AP reported.
Closer editor Laurence Pieau said they have denied requests to withdraw the story and told French radio: "He's a normal president, a normal person. He's a president who fell in love... We've really got to get less dramatic over these pictures," the AP reported.
According to the magazine "there is, between Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet ... a true passion that has turned their hearts upside down, rocked their lives and made them take foolish risks," the AP reported.
Hollande has never married but has four children with former lover and French politician Segolene Royal, the AP reported. Hollande currently lives with his partner of many years journalist Valerie Trierweiler, considered to be France's first lady.
The people of France, like the old traditional media, are showing little to no concern about the recent photos and stories about the affair, according to the AP.
"Julie Gayet, I don't even know who she is. I am not interested," said 65-year-old Monique Beco, according to the AP. "He can do what he wants. He is not married."
