Actress Gayet wins privacy lawsuit versus tabloid in Hollande affair

[March 28, 2014]  PARIS (Reuters) — A French court ordered Closer magazine on Thursday to pay actress Julie Gayet 15,000 euros ($20,700) for publishing photos that revealed an affair between her and President Francois Hollande, her lawyer told Reuters.

The 7-page photo spread published on January 10 showed the comings and goings outside a Parisian apartment rented by Gayet. It included the night-time arrival and morning departure of Gayet and, separately, that of man wearing a black helmet and said to be Hollande.

Neither party has denied the affair, but Gayet filed a lawsuit alleging breach of privacy. Hollande chose not to sue.

Gayet's lawyer Jean Ennochi, who had been asking for a larger sum of 50,000 euros, said his client's life had been "turned upside down" by the publication.

The disclosure by the magazine was followed by Hollande's breakup with his partner of eight years, Valerie Trierweiler.

The scandal was an unwelcome distraction for Hollande, whose popularity ratings are at record lows, as he tries to stem rising unemployment and spur growth in the euro zone's second-largest economy.

Gayet, a Socialist party supporter who has acted in French films including the 2013 comedy "Quai d'Orsay", backed Hollande during the 2012 presidential race.

($1 = 0.7254 euros)

(Reporting by Chine Labbe; writing by Alexandria Sage; editing by Andrew Callus)

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