Ten individuals found guilty of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has convicted ten people for engaging in the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced charges of spreading fabrications regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to making hurtful comments about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.
The court issued conditional custodial sentences of up to eight months to the perpetrators. The complete verdict has still to be made public.
A circulating conspiracy theory claiming that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons engaging in a libel case in the US against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared analogous false narratives about the first lady's gender.
Their legal filing alleges that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence disproving her claim opting to give a platform to established defamers.
Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 stated that she would risk all her credibility on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.
Brigitte Macron first met her future husband when she was a teacher at his lycée.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.