ATLANTICO, MARIANNE (France)
PARIS – Since becoming France’s first lady, Valerie Trierweiler has caused “nothing but trouble” at the magazine where she’s been working, according to a new biography of her boss, French publisher Arnaud Lagardère.
Lagardère, the billionaire owner of French celebrity weekly Paris Match, is said to view the 47-year-old divorcee and current companion of President Francois Hollande as “an unpinned grenade,” in a new biography written by journalist Jaqueline Remy, according to the website Atlantico.
Extracts of Arnaud Lagardere, The Heir Who Wanted To Live His Life, published this week in French news weekly Marianne.
In the book, Remy said that she asked him whether having the French first lady as an employee was a benefit. “Are you kidding?” he is quoted as replying. “Up until now, she’s caused us nothing but trouble!”
The media mogul had said in June that he would not renew the Trierweiler’s contract with Paris Match when it expired at the end of the year.
He later changed his mind, agreeing to keep her on after Hollande assured him “she isn’t really a first lady,” according to the book.
Trierweiler made her name as a political journalist but is now working as literary columnist for Paris Match. Hollande and Trierweiler have been together since 2005, after Hollande split with long-time partner and the Socialist Party’s former presidential candidate Ségolène Royale.
Valérie Trierweiler in May 2012 – Source: Wikipedia
