A group of ten convicted of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
The those on trial faced charges of spreading false claims regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making malicious remarks about the couple's significant age difference.
The court handed down suspended jail terms of up to eight months to the perpetrators. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A longstanding false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has existed since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This recent ruling in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted similar conspiracy theories about the first lady's gender.
Their legal filing states that Owens ignored all credible evidence disproving her claim choosing instead to platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has frequently reiterated these assertions on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron was born a man.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she was a teacher at his secondary school.
The two tied the knot in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
