Ten convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A Paris court has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the wife of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced charges of circulating false claims regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making malicious remarks about the husband and wife's significant age difference.

The court delivered conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The complete verdict has not yet been published.

A circulating conspiracy theory alleging that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's initial election in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a libel case in the US against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the first lady's identity.

Their complaint states that Owens brushed aside any factual proof that refuted her assertions opting to platforming known conspiracy theorists.

Owens has regularly repeated these assertions on her digital program and social media channels, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she was a teacher at his high school.

The pair tied the knot in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was 54.