A French court has ordered the gossip magazine Closer to pay 15,000 euros in damages to the actor Julie Gayet for breaching her privacy after it published photos apparently exposing her relationship with the president, François Hollande, reports The Guardian.
The sum fell short of the €50,000 Gayet, 41, sought when she filed the suit shortly after Closer published photos of Hollande, 59, arriving on the back of a scooter to meet her in a Paris apartment.
The court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre also ordered the magazine to publish the full ruling on its front page.
Hollande split with long-time partner Valérie Trierweiler, 49, following the scandal but has refused to comment further on his private life or the nature of his relationship with Gayet.
During court hearings, Gayet's lawyer, Jean Ennochi, said the actor had been "hunted" by the press. He said: "She was assaulted by swarms of photographers … it was like the hunt of a wild animal."
Ennochi refused to comment further on Thursday.
Closer's lawyer, Delphine Pando, told the court the magazine was justified in publishing the photographs. She said they were in the public interest because they raised questions about presidential security and Hollande's "duty of transparency".
Read more of this AFP report published by The Guardian.