Macron’s Kiss With French Sports Minister During Olympics Causes a Stir

French media is in a frenzy after a passionate cheek-to-cheek kiss between France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the country’s sports minister, 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.

On X, underneath a tweet of the photo, one user thought it looked like “AI at first.”

“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.

Oudéa-Castéra and her husband, Frédéric Oudéa, tied the knot one year earlier in 2006. Frédéric is a finance CEO.