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Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte are said to have organised several social dinners just before Macrons’ presidential election in 2017, according to French magazine Complément d’enquête. The magazine reports these dinners would have added up to around 120,000 euros – just over £100k of taxpayer money.
The report comes at a difficult time for Macron, as he is widely tipped to soon announce his bid for re-election in France’s April presidential vote.
The reporters explored the relationship between politicians and celebrities and argued that the lavish dinners would have enabled the Macrons to attract the good graces of influential personalities in French culture.
Among the well-known personalities reported to have attended these events were French actors Fabrice Luchini, Pierre Arditi, and Guillaume Gallienne.
French actress and singer Line Renaud was also reported to have attended and is cited as being very close to the Macrons.
Radio host Stéphane Bern also attended the evenings and told France Info that he felt like the “new kid on the block” at the events.
He added that he had “the feeling these were people that [the future president] was used to seeing”.
While the dinners were being held, Mr and Ms Macron were living in their official flat in Bercy, an upmarket district of Paris.
Sud Ouest report that the flat had a breathtaking view of Paris, overlooking the Seine.
However, journalist Marc Endeweld told France Info that the dinners do not seem to correspond with the President’s known personality.
Mr Endeweld said: “Emmanuel Macron is not at all a socialite, basically. He’s not someone who goes out… that’s more Brigitte Macron’s style.”
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France’s First Lady was, according to Complément d’enquête, aiming to support her husband’s political career by increasing his notoriety.
When he first took office as Minister for the Economy in 2014, Mr Macron was fairly unknown to the French public.
Complément d’enquête describes Ms Macron’s support of her husband through expensive socialisation as “a strategy that has borne fruit, but which has a cost.”
Key to the uncovered dinners is the claim they were funded by French taxpayers.
The former Secretary of State for the Budget Christian Eckert told France info that on August 31 2016, when Emmanuel Macron left his ministry to run for president, “all the credits for the year were consumed”.
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The 120,000 euros were spent in the space of around eight months.
The president of centre-right political party Les Republicains Christian Jacob has slated Mr Macron’s behaviour, accusing him of squandering public money to get elected.
He said to the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing: “We have a President of the Republic who uses public money to run his campaign.
“We are clearly dealing with the misappropriation of public funds.”
The French government have been contacted for comment.
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