Known widely as a feisty magazine journalist, she earned the nickname "Rottweiler" after slapping a colleague at Paris Match, for saying something she thought was sexist, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported.
And after her own magazine put her on the cover under the headline "Francois Hollande's charming asset," she reportedly tweeted in French: "Bravo Paris Match for its sexism - my thoughts go out to all angry women."
"She is someone who has always worked, who's come from nowhere, who's done everything for herself, " said her longtime colleague Labro. "It's going to be very hard to keep doing that and be first lady."