Ten sentenced of cyber-bullying against Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has convicted ten people for perpetrating the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the partner of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced charges of disseminating untruths regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to publishing defamatory statements about the pair's significant age difference.
The court delivered suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has not yet been published.
A persistent unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This Monday's court decision in France comes as the Macrons initiating a libel case in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the first lady's gender.
Their lawsuit contends that Owens disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron initially encountered her future husband when she taught at his secondary school.
The pair entered into matrimony in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
