Ten convicted of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has ruled against ten people for engaging in the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The those on trial faced allegations of spreading fabrications regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to posting defamatory statements about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.
The court delivered conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the perpetrators. The full ruling has still to be made public.
A persistent false narrative alleging that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons pursuing a libel case in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared comparable unfounded claims about the Brigitte Macron's identity.
Their complaint alleges that Owens ignored substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations choosing instead to platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her show and social networks, and in March 2024 declared that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron initially encountered her future husband when she taught at his lycée.
The couple entered into matrimony in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.
