Macron's ally running for mayor of Paris -- kompromat

[Breccia]

So I'd love to hear more context from someone actually living in France (or EU).

From what I can tell, a trusted ally of Macron, Griveaux, was running as the LREM candidate against the incumbent mayor Hidalgo. Then, Russian artist Pavlensky released a video that he claims is Griveaux waving his dick at a woman who is not his wife. Griveaux, who was down in the polls already, dropped out of the race. Pavlensky has since been arrested because revenge porn is illegal in France, and apparently this qualifies. I don't know how Pavlensky got the video, but he fled from Russia in 2017 and set fire to an FSB office in 2015 -- I would be willing to believe the two are related.

And this happened over the last few days, and despite keeping an eye on international news, somehow I missed this.

So a few questions to anyone from France or the EU:
1) Is this a big deal, a small deal, or nothing special in French politics?
2) What's the general consensus about the situation?
3) Did I misstate anything, or leave anything important out? I'm linking the sources I used, but I get the feeling sometimes these sources have "Americanized" pages that don't tell the whole story.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-f...-idUSKBN2090T0

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51502424

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ench-president

[Templar 331]

What is it with Russia and weird videos of soon to be elected officials?

[mvaliz]

A better question might be what do they have on people in power that they haven’t released. Blackmail is a powerful tool.

Which, to that end, one must ask what the guy did (or possibly refused to do) to piss off the Russians enough to follow through with their blackmail material?

[mvaliz]

Didn’t play ball... unlike a certain orange dotard.

Well, that part is obvious, obviously ;P I'm just curious what game they (the Russians) wanted to put into play.

Honestly, if this scenario is what happened - than it's probably best for this guy to run straight to the Gov and tell them what they (Russia) asked of him to do. Of course, that could run the risk of him accidentally suiciding by cyanide-laced coffee while shooting himself in the back of the head - but at this point, what isn't? >_<

[Jeb007]

Look at dem crocodile tears. Muhh family!

You should have thought of that before you sent deek pix around.

[Breccia]

I'm just curious what game they (the Russians) wanted to put into play.

The context of the issue suggests that "the Russians" might not have. The Russian, singular, who did so doesn't seem to be a friend of the state. Plus the guy was losing anyhow. I'm not sure why Russia would bother to stack the deck against a losing candidate.

Also, the general lack of responses to this thread suggests it's not that big of a deal -- which is exactly what I was hoping to learn, so, thanks!

[Easo]

He still should have continued.
Yeah, he is dumb as fuck. But the nutsack nailer is also not the smartest cookie, or just was bought to blackmail.

[Demolitia]

The context of the issue suggests that "the Russians" might not have. The Russian, singular, who did so doesn't seem to be a friend of the state. Plus the guy was losing anyhow. I'm not sure why Russia would bother to stack the deck against a losing candidate.

Also, the general lack of responses to this thread suggests it's not that big of a deal -- which is exactly what I was hoping to learn, so, thanks!

French people don't really care about politicians personal lives. It might show up in tabloids but typically it will not affect their careers. The outrage that happened is not because he has a mistress, but because of the pressure he and his family received, which led him to drop off the race. Sarkozy was married twice, Hollande had a mistress when he become president, Chirac and Mitterand might have had kids out of wedlock, it didn't keep them from being reelected.
Having a mistress seems to be the norm for french politicians come to think of it ...

[Breccia]

French people don't really care about politicians personal lives. It might show up in tabloids but typically it will not affect their careers. The outrage that happened is not because he has a mistress, but because of the pressure he and his family received, which led him to drop off the race.

I don't understand. If the French don't care about the personal lives, why was there pressure?

[Flarelaine]

Which, to that end, one must ask what the guy did (or possibly refused to do) to piss off the Russians enough to follow through with their blackmail material?

No need for a personal grievance. Just muddying the waters and undermining people's trust in any and all elected officials is enough to serve Russian interests.

[Demolitia]

I don't understand. If the French don't care about the personal lives, why was there pressure?

I'm not sure. Political opponents used social media to amplify what happened and spin it to their advantage. Griveaux and his family then received death threats which were serious enough to place them under police protection (people don't have guns here so threats are typically taken lightly unless they are terrorist in nature). Who issued the threats, I don't know.
I think this is fairly new in France to use personnal life for political smearing. At least in this way. And it is worrying in many ways.