Carla Bruni Denies Rumors Of Affairs With Musicians, Ministers, Karate Champions.

Amidst swirling rumors of double-infidelities and several days of calculated silence, France’s First Lady has finally come out with a statement. An odd statement!

Lest you forget, as the Sydney Morning Herald helpfully summarizes, Carla Bruni Sarkozy “was alleged to have moved in with Benjamin Biolay, a French musician six years her junior, while Mr Sarkozy, 55, was said to have sought ”comfort” in the arms of his Ecology Minister, Chantal Jouanno, 40, a karate champion.”

The rumors started over the weekend, when Biolay (a friend of the President’s) swept French music awards, and a DJ joked that he must have friends in high places. The story spread via Twitter. Biolay now says he’s going to sue those who spread it.

The first couple, married a mere two years, maintained a dignified silence for several days. However, asked yesterday by a reporter from Sky News “whether she trusted her husband,” Bruni-Sarkozy, who admitted to never having “tasted monogamy before I was married,” responded, “Oh yes, very much…He would never have affairs…Have you ever seen a picture of him having an affair?” Despite the lack of photographic proof, some, however, were less than convinced by the pragmatic, ”I guess marriage should be for ever but who knows what happens? I wish it was for ever, that’s my hope … but we could be dead tomorrow.” (We’d define “life” as forever, but, y’know, translation.)

Bruni-Sarkozy compounded the weirdness by declaring, ”The real fairytale is how lucky, how incredibly lucky it was for me to fall in love at 40 years old and meeting someone I could marry.” Yes, amazing that a middle-aged hag like that could get a man. Gives us all reason to hope, really.

The oddest part of this is the variety of interpretations media’s putting on it. Both the New York Post and the London Times present the story as a flat-out “denial” and say vaguely that Bruni-Sarkozy “added she hoped her marriage would last forever,” leaving out the odd, fatalistic death part. Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald declares, “Whispered words tell of a fairytale that is ending.” All rather presumptuous, of course. After all, have we seen any photos?

Carla Bruni Denies Affair Rumors [NY Post]

Carla Bruni Denies Affair Rumours Sparked By Twitter And Internet Gossip [TimesUK]
Whispered Words Tell Of A Fairytale That Is Ending [Sydney Morning Herald]