Liliane Bettencourt and the "golden dildo"

The so-called "Bettencourt affair" has been taking up more than its fair share of column inches and airtime both in France and abroad over the summer.

It's a complicated case by any stretch of the imagination, involving an inheritance dispute between the daughter of France's richest woman and her mother, political intrigue, accusations of corruption, claims of tax evasion - in fact you name it, and it has probably appeared in the headlines at some point over the past couple of months.

Now though, if it were possible, there's a twist in the tale.

It might not have very much to do with any of the above, but it has certainly caught the imagination of many, has brought a somewhat "lighter" touch to the proceedings and has created that all-too-frequently seen Internet buzz.

At the heart of the so-called "affair" of course has been Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman and the principal shareholder of L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company.

Recently the 87-year-old posed for a photograph to accompany an interview with her in an issue of the magazine Capital.



The shot was taken at one of her homes, in the swanky Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The setting is all very "proper" and entirely appropriate it would appear, as Yann Barthes, the presenter of Le Petit Journal, told viewers on Tuesday.

It's a segment of the daily evening magazine Le Grand Journal on Canal + and takes a somewhat irreverent look at what's making the news.

As Barthes explained, at first glance everything appears to be 'normal' in the photograph.

Madame Bettencourt is to be seen standing in front of bookshelves - "a totally normal setting," said Barthes.

"A lamp on the table - normal," he continued.

"And next to the lamp, a mug with the inscription 'I love you' - once again normal."

But then as Barthes and many others have noticed, sitting there next to the mug and clearly visible in the picture is....what can surely only be described in polite terms as a giant golden dildo.

Photoshop or a work of art?

Cybernauts are divided but the Net is a-buzz and it's surely yet another "affair" to be followed.


La bite/gode en or de Mme Bettencourt
envoyé par sebyrollins. - Regardez plus de vidéos comiques.