A Paris court on Monday found 10 people guilty of harassing France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, by posting or sharing false and malicious claims about her gender on social media. The ruling marks a significant legal rebuke to a conspiracy theory that has circulated online for years, alleging that Brigitte Macron was born a man.
The defendants (eight men and two women aged between 41 and 60) include a school sports teacher, an art gallery owner and a publicist. Sentences ranged from mandatory courses on understanding online harassment to an eight-month suspended prison term. Several were also barred from accessing the social media platforms where the abusive content had been posted or amplified.
Judges found that the group had knowingly spread defamatory claims about Brigitte Macron's gender and sexuality, with some posts also attacking her marriage to President Emmanuel Macron by drawing offensive comparisons linked to their age difference. The court concluded that the comments went beyond opinion or satire and amounted to sustained, harmful harassment.
The case forms part of a broader legal effort by the Macrons to push back against the conspiracy theory, which has spread internationally. Alongside the French proceedings, the couple have filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative podcaster Candace Owens for repeating the claim. Court filings stress that the allegation is entirely false and that Jean-Michel Trogneux (often cited in the rumor) is in fact Brigitte Macron's older brother.