Not So Comely Carla

(Newser) - She’s dated everyone from Mick Jagger to Donald Trump, but ex-supermodel Carla Bruni wants the world to know that the first lady of France is not a tramp—she’s Mrs Sarkozy now. “I can no longer seduce because I love my husband,” Bruni told a Brazilian women’s magazine, the Daily-Telegraph reports. “I don't want to hurt him. I am no longer a man-eater.” More »

(Newser) - Carla Bruni is suing a clothing company for putting her nude image on its shopping bags, the Independent reports. France’s first lady, who demands that Pardon! stop selling the bag, is seeking $167,000 in damages that she would give to charity. Accompanying the 1993 image is a word bubble reading, “My bloke should’ve bought me clothes from Pardon.” More »

(Newser) - France's first lady shared a bill with Metallica on a British music show last night, the BBC reports. Former model Carla Bruni tapped her foot and clapped as the headbangers played—then joined host Jools Holland for a bluesy ballad. Bruni discussed the challenges of living both as a pop star and as wife to "very kind" French President Nicolas Sarkozy. More »

(Newser) - Who could have imagined that Italian supermodel-singer Carla Bruni would find love with a right-wing French president? Maureen Orth takes a look at France’s First Lady in Vanity Fair : her education in art and architecture, admiration of women's-libbers Simone de Beauvoir and Françoise Sagan, and her husband's reaction to nude pictures online. ("Oh, I like this one! Can I have a print of it?") More »

(Newser) - If Coldplay and Radiohead can do it, then so can the first lady of France, reports the Wall Street Journal. Carla Bruni is inviting her fans to listen to up to 2 hours of her new album for free on her website. The album, which has sparked extreme interest among her husband's constituents, ranges from bluegrass to Bob Dylan-inspired.  More »

(Newser) - Move over, Hollywood—these days, fashion designers are dying to get their wares on a new kind of celebrity: politicians. The last time Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy visited London, Dior issued no fewer than five press releases on their outfits, and Louis Vuitton has even hired Mikhail Gorbachev as a model. But not everyone thinks the trend is chic, reports W in a look at political stars. More »

(Newser) - They may look like an always-happy couple, but France's First Lady Carla Bruni has confessed she doesn't agree with husband Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing politics. She's not alone. Just a year after his election, polls have shown Sarkozy is the most unpopular president in six decades, reports the Daily Telegraph. "My instinctive reflexes are left-wing," Bruni told Liberation . She and her husband are not politically "joined at the hip." More »

(Newser) - President Bush today complimented Nicolas Sarkozy on his wife, calling her “a really smart, capable woman,” the BBC reports. “I can see why you married her,” he added. In Paris as part of his European tour, Bush called the French president by his first name and noted that “America’s first friend was France” in a press conference that focused on warm relations between the countries. More »