Closer magazine to pay Julie Gayet 15,000 euros in damages over Francois Hollande affair report

Closer magazine has been ordered by a French court to pay actress Julie Gayet 15,000 euros ($20,000) over a breach of privacy for revealing her affair with President Francois Hollande.

Closer published photographs of Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet arriving separately at an apartment in January.

The payout was far lower than the 50,000 euros Julie Gayet had sought.

The Paris court ordered the magazine to publish the ruling on the front page of its next edition.

Closer caused a political storm in France on January 10 when it published images purporting to show Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet arriving at a Paris flat for alleged trysts.

Although he refused to comment on the allegations, Francois Hollande announced that he had “put an end” to his “shared life” with long-term partner Valerie Trierweiler shortly afterwards.

During court hearings, Julie Gayet’s lawyer said she had been “hunted” by journalists.

“She was assaulted by swarms of photographers… it was like the hunt of a wild animal,” he said.

Closer‘s lawyer maintained that the magazine was justified in publishing the photographs, saying they were in the public interest because they raised questions about Francois Hollande’s “duty of transparency”.

Julie Gayet has also filed two criminal complaints: one for a breach of privacy over photographs taken of her inside a car and another accusing paparazzi of “endangering others” while chasing her.

The mother of two, who has acted in more than 70 films over a 20-year career, has kept a low profile since the scandal broke.

During a rare public appearance in New York earlier this month Julie Gayet fended off questions about her relationship with President Francois Hollande, saying: “My private life is my private life.”