Ten found guilty of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A Paris court has ruled against ten people for engaging in the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the partner of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced allegations of circulating fabrications regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making defamatory statements about the husband and wife's age disparity of 24 years.

The court handed down suspended jail terms of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The full ruling has yet to be released.

A longstanding false narrative alleging that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France comes as the Macrons pursuing a libel case in the US against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted analogous false narratives about the first lady's identity.

Their lawsuit contends that Owens disregarded any factual proof disproving her claim choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has often echoed these allegations on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.

Brigitte Macron initially encountered her now-husband when she was a teacher at his lycée.

The couple entered into matrimony in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was 54.