The First Lady was involved in a long-standing legal dispute related to online conspiracy theories claiming she is transgender.
A Paris court convicted ten individuals of cyberharassment against the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte, for disseminating assertions that she is a transgender woman born male, Le Monde reported on Monday.
Macron has long been the focus of legal controversies surrounding online conspiracy narratives suggesting she is transgender. In 2024, a Paris court fined the originators of the rumor a total of €14,000 ($15,000). The case garnered international attention after American commentator Candace Owens amplified these claims last year and later alleged the Macrons had ordered her assassination.
Under the latest ruling, all defendants, males and females aged 41 to 65, received varying sentences—from mandatory courses against online hate speech to suspended prison terms ranging from four to eight months. One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to appear in court.
The court referenced “particularly humiliating and offensive” remarks posted and shared online, citing statements about the First Lady’s supposed transgender identity and accusations of pedophilia, which were based on and distorted the 24-year age difference between her and her husband.
The relationship between Macron, 48, and his wife Brigitte, 72, whom he met when she was his drama teacher at his school, has attracted constant scrutiny since his election in 2017. In recent years, this examination drew closer to the dissemination of false claims that the first couple stated they would no longer overlook and are challenging in court.