Yann Moix: French author, 50, sparks outrage by saying women his age are 'too old' to love

A French author has sparked outrage after saying he thinks women aged 50 or above are “too old” to love.

Yann Moix, who is 50, said that women in their fifties were “invisible” to him.

"I prefer younger women's bodies, that's all. End of,” he told Marie-Claire magazine.

“The body of a 25-year-old woman is extraordinary. The body of a woman of 50 is not extraordinary at all.”

The writer’s remarks caused an angry backlash.

French comic Anne Roumanoff criticised him on Europe 1 radio, saying romance was not "just about the firmness of the buttocks" but a connection between two people.

In a message on social media, which was later deleted, journalist Colombe Schneck posted shared a photograph of her bottom alongside the caption: "Voila, the buttocks of a woman aged 52…what an imbecile you are, you don't know what you're missing."

Marina Foïs, a French comic, joked in a tweet she had only "one year and 14 days" left to sleep with the author because she was about to turn 49.

Responding to the outrage online, the author told RTL radio he was not "responsible" for his taste in women.

Moix, an award-winning writer, director and presenter, had also said he prefers to date Asian women.

"It's perhaps sad and reductive for the women I go out with but the Asian type is sufficiently rich, large and infinite for me not to be ashamed," he said.