Ten individuals convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has convicted ten people for carrying out the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced allegations of spreading untruths regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to making defamatory statements about the pair's significant age difference.
The court issued suspended jail terms of as much as eight months to the perpetrators. The full ruling has still to be made public.
A longstanding unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France coincides with the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has also voiced comparable unfounded claims about the first lady's gender.
Their legal filing contends that Owens ignored all credible evidence that refuted her assertions choosing instead to platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has frequently reiterated these assertions on her digital program and social networks, and in March 2024 stated that she would risk all her credibility on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her current spouse when she was a teacher at his lycée.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.
