Question: Who can shave 25 times a day and still have a beard? Answer: A barber!
Next question: Who can have a haircut today and still need one tomorrow? Answer: Apparently, French President François Hollande. And that’s not all. In an embarrassing scandal Hollande’s detractors have dubbed #Coiffeurgate, it’s been revealed that the unpopular Socialist leader spends $11,000 per month on hair care! That’s the rate paid to the President’s official, full-time hair stylist.
In Paris, a posh men’s haircut typically runs around $56. An average cut is far less. Hollande’s barber bill struck the French people as outrageous. It seems even more absurd when one considers that the politician based his presidential campaign on heavily taxing the super-wealthy and defending the poor.
Staff who support high-ranking government officials are often privy to top-secret conversations. That’s one reason given for bringing on the $131,000-per-year hairdresser with a five-year contract. “We used to use external contractors,” Hollande said in his own defense. “I preferred that it was handled from here,” meaning that he wanted even his barber to be on the inside of his trusted staff.
Additionally, Hollande pointed out that he had shaved his own salary by 30 percent. He says he trimmed the Elysée Palace budget and snipped away 10 percent of its staff since taking office as well.
Heads of state with international exposure often justify spending large sums of money on managing their own images. Leaders hire speechwriters to craft words and vocal coaches for improving delivery. “Spin doctors” and public relations specialists manipulate public perceptions. They explain away mistakes and problems. Wardrobe consultants help leaders dress to impress. All those positions come with an expected cost in salaries. But even so, the $11,000 per month fee to manage President Hollande’s very average, rather limited coiffure is jaw-dropping. The President himself earns only one-third more than the man who does his hair.
French media calculated that Hollande’s monthly hair maintenance is nearly four times that of an average French worker’s salary.
The hairdresser likewise defended his pay rate. He says he has to be available to the President at all times. He claims he gives the French leader’s thinning hair a trim daily. He also says he is sworn to secrecy over any information he overhears while being so regularly employed in his government’s service.
