Michelle Obama never said life was 'hell': Carla Bruni

 WASHINGTON: French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said Monday that Michelle Obama had never complained to her that life in the White House was hell, firmly dismissing an account in an unauthorized biography.

"Of course, Michelle Obama never said such a thing," Bruni-Sarkozy told CNN in an interview when asked about the controversial comments attributed to the American first lady in a new biography "Carla and the Ambitious."

"I'm happy to tell you very frankly that this is not an authorized book... I never read the book. I never knew about the book," the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy added on CNN.

Bruni-Sarkozy said she disassociated herself from the contents of the book, but added she was not planning any legal action as it would give the book too much publicity.

"I do live in France, and France is a free country, where anyone can you know, fantasize and print it," she said. "I'm a democrat. I believe that everyone is allowed to say, write and say what they want."

Co-authors journalist Yves Derai and Michael Darmon last week stood by their account of the alleged exchange between the two first ladies during an intimate White House dinner on March 31.

But Derai said it was probably said in a jokey manner and the Americans were "over-analyzing it."