A Paris court on Monday found ten people guilty of cyber bullying France‘s first lady, Brigitte Macron, in the latest legal action sparked by false claims that she is a transgender woman who was born a man.
The eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60, had been accused of making malicious comments about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality, including equating her age difference with her husband to “paedophilia”.
The court said those claims were “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious”, and handed down penalties ranging from a cyberbullying awareness training to 8-month suspended prison sentences.
Ms Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on TF1 national television on Sunday, she said she launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.
Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, a self-described medium known as Amandine Roy, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumour after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.
Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humour or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted.
The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.
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