Brigitte Macron is repeatedly exposed to hostility on the Internet.Image: keystone
Oct 27, 2025, 4:32 p.mOct 27, 2025, 4:32 p.m
Eight men and two women are on trial in Paris for cyberbullying of France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron.
The defendants are accused of making numerous malicious statements about the gender of the president’s wife and the age difference from her husband Emmanuel Macron, as the public prosecutor’s office announced. There was even talk of pedophilia in some cases.
Attorney Dylan Slama represents one of the ten defendants.Image: keystone
The background is the conspiracy story that has been circulating on social media since Macron was elected president in 2017, according to which Brigitte Macron was a trans woman and was born a man. The Macrons have taken legal action against this before.
There is a risk of up to two years in prison
Two days of trial are scheduled for the proceedings in Paris; the taking of evidence is scheduled to end on Tuesday. The court could not say whether the verdict against the ten defendants, aged 41 to 60, would be pronounced then or at a later date.
Brigitte Macron filed a complaint about cyberbullying in August 2024, after which investigators temporarily arrested the suspects. The defendants face up to two years in prison.
The defendants include a conspiracy theorist known in France and a woman who claims to be a medium and advertising specialist and whose X account has since been blocked. She is considered to have played a key role in spreading the rumor. (sda/dpa)