French magazine Closer 'will remove' Hollande affair allegations

French President Francois Hollande threatened legal action against the magazine. Credit: REUTERS/Michel Euler/Pool

French celebrity magazine Closer has said it will remove a report from its website that alleges President Francois Hollande was having an affair with a film actress.

Mr Hollande had threatened legal action against the magazine for breach of privacy after it published seven pages of photographs taken outside a Paris apartment building which Closer claimed supported its story.

The magazine was among the publications criticised in 2012 for publishing topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Closer's editor, Laurence Pieau, told French news agency Agence France-Presse that the report would be removed from the magazine's website at the request of the actress, Julie Gayet.

No action was planned for the print edition, Ms Pieau said.

Film actress Julie Gayet's lawyer asked Closer to remove the story from its website. Credit: REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

People on the streets of central Paris did not seem interested in the story and defended Mr Hollande's right to privacy.

"I think it's a revolting magazine, I don't think it's interesting at all", one woman told Reuters.

"It's Francois Hollande's private life, I think life is life. I think it's an uninteresting issue and I think there many other more important issues in France than this one", she added.