New York (CNN) -- France's first lady Carla Bruni denied Monday that her U.S. counterpart ever told her that life in the White House was "hell".
"Of course Michelle Obama never said such a thing," the former model told CNN at the French mission in Midtown. She arrived Monday at the United Nations on the arm of her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was attending a summit on global development.
The quote came from the unauthorized "Carla et les Ambitieux" ("Carla and the Ambitious"), written by Michael Darmon and Yves Derai and published last week.
In a passage about the French first couple's official visit to Washington last March, the book describes an official dinner at the White House in which Bruni reportedly asked Michelle Obama about life at the White House and her role as first lady.
CNN
