French media is in a frenzy after a passionate cheek-to-cheek kiss between France’s president, Emmanuel Macron,and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra,46, who was a former professional tennis player and is now holding the portfolio of minister of sports was captured during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
In the photo, Oudéa-Castéra, known colloquially as AOC, can be seen with her arm around the president’s neck, and his head cradled in hers as she plants a kiss below his ear. In the background of the photo, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal can be seen looking away conspicuously.
According to the Telegraph, the French magazine Midi Libre first commented on the photo. “After the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the pressure was off, giving way to euphoria. In an explosion of joy, sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera and President Emmanuel Macron kissed.
The kiss caused quite a stir,” Midi Libre wrote.
Another prominent French publication, Madame Fiagro, called the photo “strange” and added that Oudéa-Castéra “certainly knows how to get people talking about her.” And its not just the press talking, social media has also weighed in on the lip lock.
Photos of the intimate kiss have collected over 4 million views on the social media platform X.
The kiss raised eyebrows even in France,where kissing is often a common form of greeting.
Many social media users said it stretched the boundaries of polite pecks and veered into “indecent” territory.
Gabriel Attal, he pretends to look elsewhere! He doesn’t know where to stand!” said one user.
“I find this photo indecent, it’s not worthy of a president and a minister,” said a user.
“It’s my lover that I’m kissing like this. Embarrassing,” wrote one person, according to the New York Post.
“I find this photo indecent, it’s not worthy of a president and a minister,” another said.
On X, underneath a tweet of the photo, one user thought it looked like “AI at first.”
“Amélie Oudéa-Castéra greedily kissing Macron. At least one who loves her boss, that’s nice to see,” one social media user joked.
Some made memes imagining how Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macron, would react to the kiss.
“Both a little too close,” added another .
“Brigitte is going to do something crazy there,” a third chimed in, referencing Macron’s wife, Brigitte. Macron, 46, and Brigitte, 71, have been married since 2007.
Earlier this month, the sports minister took a dip in the Seine River to ensure that it was safe for the athletes. In many waterways, E.coli levels are known to be high which was a cause of concern as several events were to be held during the Olympics.
On Sunday (Jul 28), a pre-race triathlon event had to be cancelled due to concerns raised about the water quality.
In January, Oudéa-Castéra was given the position of education minister by Macron, however, she was removed from her position in less than a month after it was found that her children were studying at posh private schools and the minister was also found making disparaging remarks about public schools.
Oudéa-Castéra and her husband, Frédéric Oudéa, tied the knot one year earlier in 2006. Frédéric is a finance CEO.
Peoplesmind
