A body language analysis has cast new light on the viral video of French President Emmanuel Macron getting ‘slapped’ by his wife Brigitte as they arrived in Vietnam.
On Sunday, May 25, Macron and Brigitte touched down in Hanoi to kick off a high-profile tour of South-East Asia, which includes stops in Indonesia and Singapore. But before they could even leave the plane, footage of a puzzling moment at the aircraft door was already setting the internet on fire.
Captured by AP, the clip shows 47-year-old Macron waiting as staff open the door. Then, suddenly, an arm appears to come from behind and make contact with his face — hard.
Macron, seemingly caught off guard, responds with a wave to the waiting crowd before stepping away from view. Seconds later, 72-year-old Brigitte steps into view, and the pair descend the stairs onto the tarmac.
While the internet was quick to dub it a "slap," one analyst argues it was something far more complex — and possibly calculated.
‘Two-Handed Shove’: New Analysis Emerges
Jesús Enrique Rosas, also known as the “Body Language Guy,” shared a detailed breakdown of the viral moment on X (formerly Twitter), suggesting the gesture was not just spontaneous or playful.
"Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron were arriving in Vietnam when the cameras captured this interaction," Rosas wrote. "But was it an actual, aggressive gesture, or was something else? let's find out..."
Rosas - writing in a seven-part thread posted on Monday - described the action as "shove", adding: “I say shovelling because at first I thought it was a slap, but in fact Brigitte used both hands to push Macron's head backwards."
According to Rosas, Macron didn’t anticipate the move. “This is one split second before the 'shoving'. This is how we know that Macron didn't expect the gesture, since his body was relaxed, he had a neutral expression and his left hand/wrist was relaxed as well.”
He continued: “At the peak of the gesture, Macron realises everyone out there just witnessed the incident. He's startled and tries to play it cool, greeting.”
The expert also noted Macron’s sudden anchoring gesture — placing a hand on the seat next to him. “This is something that we do under stress... It's obvious that he was startled.”
As for what happened next, Rosas said Macron appeared to take a moment to compose himself before stepping out. “We can see a pacifying gesture of touching his nose,” he said.
Outside the plane, Macron offered his arm to Brigitte — who visibly ignored the gesture. “Macron still keeps his arm bent for a few more steps until finally giving up,” Rosas pointed out.
Rosas claimed Macron then shook hands with the awaiting official using a dominant, palm-down grip. “Maybe he wanted to feel ‘dominant’ in one way or another after that shove. Better this than shoving Brigitte down the stairs, I guess.”
‘White Knuckles and Jaw Clenched’
Rosas didn’t stop at the stairs. He scrutinized Macron’s body language after the greetings, suggesting there were signs of concealed anger.
“Macron's left hand is in a white knuckle fist, a common sign of concealed anger,” he observed. “His face is also beyond serious... With those lips pressing, my guess is that he was clenching his jaw and his jaw muscles were protruding because of the pressure.”
Tyla has reached out to Macron’s representatives for comment on Rosas’s claims.
‘We Are Horsing Around’
While online theories multiply, Macron himself insists the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion.
“We are horsing around and, really, joking with my wife,” Macron told reporters, according to France24. “It becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe.”
The Élysée Palace has stood by the President, calling it “a moment of complicity.”
“It was a moment where the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by horsing around,” the Palace said. “It’s a moment of complicity. It was all that was needed to give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists.”
A Controversial Month Full Of Theories
The spectacle was only amplified by Macron’s history with misinformation. The President recently had to dispel rumors suggesting he was caught using cocaine during a diplomatic train trip—footage of him picking up a tissue was spun into a bizarre drug theory.
French officials debunked it swiftly, saying the item was merely “for blowing your nose.” The statement warned of ongoing manipulation: “This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation.”
Reflecting on the controversies, Macron summed up his frustration: “People read all kinds of stupidity into things,” he told reporters. “There’s a video showing me joking and teasing my wife, and somehow that becomes a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe, with people even coming up with theories to explain it.”
He added: “None of this is true. Everyone needs to calm down.”