Ten individuals found guilty of cyber-bullying targeting Brigitte Macron

A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the partner of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced allegations of spreading untruths regarding her sex and sexuality, in addition to posting defamatory statements about the husband and wife's age disparity of 24 years.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The full ruling has still to be made public.

A circulating false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.

This Monday's court decision in France is concurrent with the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted analogous false narratives about the first lady's biological sex.

Their complaint states that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence disproving her claim choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has often echoed these allegations on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 stated that she would risk all her credibility on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.

Brigitte Macron first met her future husband when she taught at his secondary school.

The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.