Just joking around: Macron plays down viral video of wife shoving him on plane

French President Emmanuel Macron firmly rejected speculation about a domestic dispute with his wife, Brigitte Macron, after a viral video appeared to show her shoving his face aside as the couple arrived in Vietnam.

The clip, which went massively viral on Monday, shows a moment right after the couple landed in Hanoi, Vietnam. Moments after the plane doors open, Brigitte (72), who is mostly out of frame with only her hands visible, smacks the President in the face. Macron (47) looks momentarily startled before regaining composure and waving to the cameras.

Speaking to reporters after the incident, Macron clarified that the moment was being misunderstood.

"My wife and I were squabbling, we were rather joking, and I was taken by surprise," he said.

The French leader, who has been married to Brigitte since 2007 after meeting her at his high school where she taught, downplayed the footage and criticised the overreaction.

"Now it's become a kind of planetary catastrophe, and some are even coming up with theories," he added.

Macron attributed the brouhaha over the clip to disinformation efforts aiming to distort what he described as a light-hearted moment.

Sources from the Elyse Palace echoed his remarks, telling French media the video simply captured “a moment in which the president and his wife were unwinding by goofing about one last time before the start of the trip.”