Macron's candidate for Paris mayor quits after hacker publishes alleged sexts
Benjamin Griveaux decries ‘ignoble attacks about my private life’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.French president Emmanuel Macron suffered a setback on Friday when one of his closest lieutenants, Benjamin Griveaux, pulled out of the race to become mayor of Paris after it was alleged he sent sexual images to a woman who is not his wife.
“I have decided to withdraw my candidacy from the municipal election,” Mr Griveaux said in a video statement.
He said he and his family had been subjected to months of anonymous statements defaming him, and threats to disclose private conversations stolen from him.
A new level was reached on Thursday with “websites and social networks carrying ignoble attacks about my private life”, he said
A Russian dissident artist, Pyotr Pavlensky, published screenshots of an online chat which he said was between Mr Griveaux and a woman who is not his wife and exposed his “hypocrisy”.
The chat included a video showing a man’s genitals. Mr Griveaux has not disputed that he sent the messages.
Mr Griveaux, 42, is one of the “Macron boys” – the clique that helped propel the former investment banker to the Elysee Palace.
He started in politics as an adviser to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund who in 2011 was charged with sexual assault on a maid in a New York hotel. Prosecutors dropped the charges, and Mr Strauss-Kahn said the sex was consensual.
Mr Griveaux was central to Mr Macron’s bid to control the French capital and build a local power base for his party in mayoral elections next month.
His mayoral bid though was already struggling, with opinion polls showing him in third place.
Mr Macron’s party, La Republique En Marche!, had chosen Mr Griveaux to represent it in the Paris mayoral campaign over Cedric Villani, an eccentric mathematician.
Officials from Mr Macron’s party were planning to meet to decide what to do. It was unclear if the party would now rally behind Mr Villani, a rebel who was expelled from its ranks last month, or field another candidate.
Mr Griveaux, a divisive figure, alienated many within his own camp after his selection by referring to party rivals as “arseholes” among other insults in a leaked conversation with journalists.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo as well as rival Mr Villani both expressed support for Mr Griveaux, saying his right to privacy should be respected.
French politicians from all camps denounced in unison the leak of private material, which many said constituted an unacceptable Americanisation of politics in France, where politicians’ private lives have long been considered off limits.
“We must collectively be responsible and say: not here, not in France,” said Jean-Noel Guerini, a French senator.
Mr Pavlensky, who published the sex video, is best known for works of performance art including nailing his scrotum to the ground in Moscow’s Red Square, and setting fire to a door at the headquarters of Russia’s state security agency.
Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments