[WATCH] French president Emmanuel Macron's 'Top Gun' Davos moment goes viral

French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a wave of online speculation after appearing at the World Economic Forum in Davos wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses indoors. 

While his speech included strong remarks on global politics, social media quickly shifted focus to the eyewear, with jokes and rumours spreading rapidly online, reports Primedia's Digital Content Editor Barbara Friedman.

"Turned out it was kind of a harmless eye condition. According to his office, he had a burst blood vessel in one of his eyes, which is apparently totally benign, but he didn't want it to distract the audience and the cameras and the photographs because, of course, everyone would have gone on about the eye, right?" 

Despite the explanation, Friedman says the incident highlighted how quickly internet attention can drift from policy to optics, with Macron’s 'Top Gun' look dominating online chatter long after the speech ended.

For more information, listen to Friedman using the audio player below: