January 11, 2014 -- Updated 1144 GMT (1944 HKT)
Tabloid: Hollande had affair with star
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Closer magazine has alleged Hollande is having an affair with actress Julie Gayet
- Hollande, who was elected President in 2012, lives with partner Valerie Trierweiler
- Matthew Fraser says a media omerta that protected politicians' private lives is ending
- And he says French privacy laws are increasingly irrelevant in the social media world
Editor's note: Matthew Fraser
is a professor at the American University of Paris and lecturer at
Sciences Po Paris. His most recent book, "Home Again in Paris: Oscar,
Leo and Me" can be found at his author site. The views expressed in this commentary are solely his.
(CNN) -- At first blush, Francois Hollande seems
comically ill-suited in the role as ardent seducer of fetching
actresses. And in many respects the astonishing allegations of his
secret love trysts are like the improbable plot of a door-slamming
French farce.
Hollande's alleged sexual escapades, revealed by the gossip magazine "Closer,"
are buzzing through the French media and burning up Twitter streams
gushing with shock, sniggering and outrage that so much attention is
being devoted to something so irrelevant to affairs of state. Yet, at a
time when the French are tired of reading how depressed they are, claims
of Hollande's bedroom romp may well be a welcome distraction. It may
even help him in the polls.
Hollande is nonetheless
threatening legal action against "Closer" for privacy invasion. That
gesture itself is extraordinary for two reasons.
First, Hollande has not
denied the affair with 41-year-old actress Julie Gayet --- the magazine
has pulled its article from its online edition under pressure from
Gayet's lawyers, but says that does not mean its claims are inaccurate.
'Bizarrely comical'
Second, in the past
Hollande's predecessors in the Elysee Palace -- notably Francois
Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac --- never had to worry about the French
press reporting their feminine conquests.
Hollande threatens action against tabloid
Hollande's former partner loses election
Until recently, a media
omerta protected the private lives of French politicians from the kind
of intense scrutiny that British and American politicians are well
accustomed.
If the "Closer" photo
spread is accurate, Hollande's secret assignations with Julie Gayet were
bizarrely comical. He was allegedly slipping out the back door of the
Elysee Palace, hopping on a scooter and buzzing through the streets of
Paris on his way to Gayet's apartment.
There's a claim that
presidential bodyguard brought croissants to the love nest in the
morning. Touching, perhaps, but not very presidential if true.
One can only imagine how Hollande's official companion, Valerie Trierweiler, reacted to reports of such assignations.
Trierweiler met Hollande
when she was a reporter for "Paris Match" magazine. He left his
long-time common-law wife, Segolene Royal -- the mother of his four
children -- for Trierweiler before the 2012 presidential election.
According to the claims
in "Closer," it would seem he may now have replaced Trierweiler with
Gayet, though Trierweiler still occupies one wing of the Elysee Palace.
'Time-honored tradition'
The alleged Hollande sexual scandal proves that the old media
omerta rules and predictable legal gesticulations don't work anymore in
France.
Matthew Fraser
Matthew Fraser
In that respect,
Hollande would be adhering to a time-honored French tradition of
official mistresses stretching back to the Bourbon kings.
Louis XV fell under the
influence of the Marquise de Pompadour, who was his "favorite" at court.
A century later Napoleon III was an indefatigable seducer of alluring
courtesans.
In the Third Republic,
George Clemenceau was an infamous womanizer; and Felix Faure famously
died in 1899 while enjoying the lascivious attentions of his mistress in
the Elysee Palace.
The corpulent and
affable Hollande may have learned the hard way that, unlike his
political mentor Mitterrand, he cannot count on media complicity about
his personal indiscretions.
He could have realized that while watching Nicolas Sarkozy's personal crises fill the headlines.
When the former French
president's wife Cecilia left him for another man, "Paris Match"
published a photo of Cecilia and her new boyfriend. And when Sarkozy
began courting the fashion model Carla Bruni, their romance was all over
the press, much of it stage-managed by Sarkozy.
French vs. Anglo-American media
Traditionally, French
and Anglo-American media behavior regarding the private lives of public
figures have been a study in contrast.
The standard explanation
is that the French media never reported on private lives because the
French simply don't care about the personal vices of their leaders. The
Anglo-Saxon press, on the other, have shown a prurient interest in
private vices to pander to a pervasive "Puritanical" culture in America
and Britain.
This may explain why
Anglo-American politicians caught with their pants down tend to confess
and resign --- or in some cases wheel out wife and children and
apologize abjectly, then resign under pressure shortly afterwards.
In France, by contrast,
politicians tend to sue and stay in office. If French politicians can
count on Catholic indulgence in their vices, the law is also on their
side.
That changed when
Dominique Strauss-Kahn -- who was favored over Hollande as Socialist
candidate for the French presidency -- was arrested in New York for
sexual assault.
At first the French
media establishment was stunned. The old omerta rules didn't apply in
this case. Not only was a criminal act alleged but it was alleged to
have taken place in America, where different media laws and attitudes
applied. Many in the French establishment fulminated against Anglo-Saxon
press abuses in sensationalizing the DSK scandal, but the fact is that
the French media jumped in.
With the Hollande sex
scandal, the French political establishment is predictably coming to his
defense and condemning the tabloid excesses of "Closer." But again, it
hasn't stopped the mainstream French media from covering the story.
Legal differences
Beyond Anglo vs. French
cultural differences, the law is another factor. While there are
distinctions between American and British law, generally speaking the
press can report on private lives if claims can be proved to be true.
Truth is the test.
French law, by contrast,
is indifferent to truth. In France, protecting personal privacy trumps
the truth. In France numerous politicians and celebrities have
successfully sued gossip magazines for violating their privacy.
In most cases, however,
damages awarded are relatively modest. "Closer" magazine -- even if it
loses a lawsuit brought by Hollande -- will likely pay a small fine
compared with the huge profits from newsstand sales of the alleged
Hollande sex scandal edition.
French law, even if
strict on privacy matters, is increasingly becoming irrelevant with the
explosion of social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. French
courts have no extra-territorial jurisdiction over anyone tweeting,
posting and commenting outside of France about Hollande's sexual
escapades.
Even in France, it's
impossible for Hollande, or any other public figure, to bring lawsuits
against everyone who has violated their privacy on Twitter or Facebook.
The alleged Hollande
sexual scandal proves that the old media omerta rules and predictable
legal gesticulations don't work anymore in France. It's a new game with
new rules.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Matthew Fraser.
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