“Just A Joke”: Macron Shrugs Off Viral Video With Brigitte Amid Online Disinformation Storm

French President Emmanuel Macron has brushed off a viral video that shows his wife, Brigitte Macron, appearing to push his face aside as they disembarked from a plane in Vietnam—the first stop of his Southeast Asia tour.

Speaking to reporters in Hanoi on Monday, Macron directly addressed the footage, dismissing the controversy and the wild theories it sparked online.

“There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife, and somehow that turns into a geo-planetary catastrophe,” Macron said. “People are making up stories to explain it.”

Macron confirmed that the video was authentic but criticized how it had been twisted online. “Yes, the video is real. And yes, sometimes people edit these things. But what’s troubling is how much nonsense gets attached to them.”

In the short clip, Macron is seen standing in the doorway of the aircraft when Brigitte’s hands suddenly reach out and press against his face in what looks like a playful shove. He appears momentarily surprised but quickly regains his composure and waves to the waiting press.

As the couple descend the stairs, Macron offers his arm to Brigitte, who instead chooses to hold the railing.

Initially, the Élysée Palace denied the incident took place. Later, however, officials downplayed its importance, framing it as a light-hearted moment between the couple.

“They were just bickering,” a source close to the president told CNN affiliate BFM TV. “It was a private, playful moment before the start of a long trip.”

“No more than a few seconds of teasing—and yet that’s all it took to feed the conspiracy machine,” the source added, noting that pro-Russian trolls were quick to spin the clip into controversy.

Macron has been a key figure in pushing for a united European response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making him a frequent target of misinformation campaigns.

The Hanoi incident comes amid a broader wave of online disinformation targeting the French leader. Earlier this month, the Élysée was forced to deny a bizarre claim—boosted by Kremlin-linked accounts—that Macron was using cocaine on a train to Kyiv alongside German politician Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

That rumor stemmed from a video showing Macron picking up a crumpled tissue, which some falsely claimed was a cocaine packet. The Élysée responded with a post debunking the claim, captioned: “This is a tissue. For blowing your nose… When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation turns a tissue into drugs.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova added fuel to the fire, calling the scene an example of Europe’s dysfunction.

French officials have condemned the wave of misinformation as part of Moscow’s ongoing effort to sow division in the West and derail unity on Ukraine through manipulation and fake narratives.

Despite the noise, Macron seemed unfazed, treating the viral moment with humor and a shrug.