Carla Bruni has spoken out about her struggles with alcohol and tobacco addiction and her four-year silence over a breast cancer diagnosis in a new French book.
The singer, former supermodel and former first lady of France shared the personal revelations in Merci pour le non, which translates as Thank You for the No. The book is written by French singer and actress Elisa Tovati and published by Éditions du Rocher.
In her contribution to the volume, Bruni sets aside her usual reserve over private matters to explain how she learned to live with her personal demons and how her family helped her confront her dependencies.
Childhood habits and 1990s runway pressures
Bruni traced her history with addiction back to her youth, explaining that it began with excessive sugar consumption during her childhood before later turning into heavy tobacco and alcohol use.
Those habits grew more intense during the 1990s, when the Italian-born model was one of the fashion industry's most prominent runway figures, walking for major fashion houses before leaving modelling to launch a music career.
Over time, drinking ceased to be a social habit for Bruni and instead became a way to dull emotional suffering. In comments reported by the French magazine Paris Match, Bruni said that her addictions to tobacco and alcohol served as a genuine support for a long period because they allowed her to numb certain emotions and pains and stay on her feet.
According to Paris Match, she added that while addiction can disguise itself as pleasure, it carries a morbid side that cannot be ignored.
Family support from Giulia and Nicolas Sarkozy
A major turning point in her recovery came in part through her 15-year-old daughter, Giulia, who challenged her mother to remain sober for 12 months.
Bruni also credited the support of her husband, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, with creating a safe home environment. Sarkozy, who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012 and married Bruni in 2008, is a teetotaller.
Bruni recalled that her husband is very protective of his family and made her feel secure even during their time at the Élysée Palace in Paris, the official residence of the French president, which she noted is not a place naturally suited to serenity.
Despite her progress, Bruni does not present her recovery as a final victory. She said that she stays constantly alert because she does not want to pass the illness of addiction on to her children, who include Giulia, born in 2011, and her older son Aurélien, born in 2001.
Four years of silence over breast cancer
Alongside her account of addiction, Bruni detailed the impact of being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. She confessed that receiving a diagnosis is always brutal, even when a person believes they are strong and able to face that look.
Bruni chose to keep her illness private for four years because she did not want to be defined by the disease. She explained that she did not want to be viewed as a sick woman and wanted to continue existing as an artist, a woman and a living being.
Protecting her privacy, however, carried an emotional cost. Bruni acknowledged that hiding the condition cuts a person off from others and becomes a form of isolation.
She kept the diagnosis secret until late 2023, when she took part in a breast cancer awareness campaign. Her hormone therapy, a treatment used in breast cancer care to help prevent the disease from returning, concluded at the end of last year.
