Crystal Dike
The trial of ten individuals accused of engaging in sexist cyber-bullying against France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, began on Monday in Paris.
The defendants are accused of spreading false and defamatory claims about Mrs Macron’s gender and sexuality, as well as making “malicious remarks” about the 24-year age gap between her and President Emmanuel Macron. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.
According to French media, those standing trial include an elected official, a gallery owner, and a teacher. Among them are self-styled independent journalist Natacha Rey and internet fortune-teller Amandine Roy, who were convicted of slander last year for claiming that Brigitte Macron never existed, alleging instead that her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, had changed gender and assumed her identity.
Although a court of appeal later overturned that conviction, ruling their remarks did not constitute defamation, Mrs Macron and her brother have appealed the decision.
The baseless conspiracy theory suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has circulated online since Emmanuel Macron’s first presidential victory in 2017. It recently gained traction in the United States, largely amplified by right-wing commentator Candace Owens.
In July 2024, the Macrons filed a lawsuit against Owens, accusing her of deliberately promoting falsehoods and “platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons’ lawyer, Tom Clare, said Mrs Macron had found the allegations “incredibly upsetting” and described them as a “distraction” for the president.
Emmanuel Macron has said the legal action was intended to “defend his honour,” adding that Owens’ claims were made “to cause harm, in the service of an ideology and with links to far-right movements.”
Brigitte Macron, now 71, first met her husband when she was his teacher at a secondary school. The couple married in 2007, when she was 54 and he was 29.