Ten convicted of online harassment against Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced charges of spreading untruths regarding her gender and sexual orientation, in addition to making defamatory statements about the husband and wife's significant age difference.
The court issued suspended prison sentences of a maximum of eight months to the perpetrators. The full ruling has not yet been published.
A circulating unfounded claim alleging that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has been in circulation since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France comes as the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the United States of America against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced similar conspiracy theories about the French president's wife's gender.
Their complaint alleges that Owens brushed aside any factual proof disproving her claim choosing instead to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.
Owens has regularly repeated these allegations on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her current spouse 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.
