A group of ten found guilty of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
Image source
A court in Paris has convicted ten people for perpetrating the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the wife of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The defendants faced allegations of disseminating fabrications regarding her sex and sexuality, in addition to making hurtful comments about the pair's 24-year age gap.
The court delivered suspended jail terms of up to eight months to the convicted individuals. The full ruling has still to be made public.
A longstanding unfounded claim claiming that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has been in circulation since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This recent ruling in France coincides with the Macrons engaging in a legal action for defamation in the US against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the Brigitte Macron's identity.
Their lawsuit contends that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has regularly repeated these claims on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.
Brigitte Macron initially encountered her now-husband when she was a teacher at his high school.
The couple entered into matrimony in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
