Ten convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the wife of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The defendants faced charges of spreading false claims regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to posting defamatory statements about the couple's significant age difference.
The court handed down conditional custodial sentences of as much as eight months to the perpetrators. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A circulating false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has been in circulation since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France comes as the Macrons initiating a legal action for defamation in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the first lady's identity.
Their complaint states that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence that refuted her assertions in favour of amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.
Owens has often echoed these claims on her show and social media channels, and in March 2024 declared that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she taught at his lycée.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
