Ten individuals sentenced of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has convicted ten people for carrying out the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the partner of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced charges of disseminating false claims regarding her gender and sexual orientation, in addition to making defamatory statements about the couple's significant age difference.

The court handed down suspended jail terms of a maximum of eight months to the perpetrators. The full ruling has yet to be released.

A circulating conspiracy theory alleging that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.

This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons pursuing a legal action for defamation in the United States of America against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted analogous false narratives about the first lady's gender.

Their legal filing states that Owens ignored any factual proof that refuted her assertions choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has often echoed these assertions on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 declared that she would risk all her credibility on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.

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

The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.