The Madame Affair
The day the First Lady became a man: anatomy of a fake news story.
A behind-the-scenes look at a piece of fake news that reached the highest levels of government. And what this story says about our world. On December 10, 2021, a woman named Natacha Rey, presenting herself as an independent journalist, explained in a YouTube interview that Brigitte Macron was a man. Within 48 hours, the video had been viewed 500,000 times, and the story was picked up by French and international media, forcing the First Lady to file a complaint. This book recounts her dive into the world of conspiracy theories, her encounters with the protagonists on both sides, and the questions raised by this affair.
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Author
Publication
March 22, 2024
Format
8.1×13.1 inches – 208 pages
Price
19,90 €
ISBN
978-2-9587398-4-3
Diffuser
Excerpt
"October 2022, I have an appointment with Natacha. [...] It took six months to convince her to meet with me.
In her interview with Amandine the medium, Natacha Rey expressed her desire for journalists to contact her and take up the story, but also voiced her vehement rejection of the "mainstream media." […]
I suspected that the approach would be delicate. It was. In response to my first message on April 5, 2022, Natacha replied: "I do not receive any journalists or so-called journalists and do not give any interviews. I've had enough of lying rags writing about me." In her eyes, I am on the wrong side, the side of propaganda and power. I argue that I really want to understand how she worked, what drives her in this crusade..."
Focus on the author
A senior reporter at Le Nouvel Obs, Emmanuelle Anizon is increasingly confronted with the world of conspiracy theorists, whose numbers
have grown since the yellow vest movement (which she followed extensively) and the Covid pandemic. She is the author of several books, including Un si long silence (Such a Long Silence), with Sarah Abitbol (Plon, 2020).
