Ten individuals convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has found guilty ten people for carrying out the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the wife of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced charges of spreading false claims regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to publishing hurtful comments about the husband and wife's age disparity of 24 years.

The court delivered conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the perpetrators. The full ruling has still to be made public.

A persistent conspiracy theory suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.

This Monday's court decision in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a libel case in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared analogous false narratives about the first lady's gender.

Their complaint contends that Owens ignored all credible evidence disproving her claim choosing instead to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.

Owens has frequently reiterated these assertions on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 stated that she would risk all her credibility on her belief that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron first met her current spouse when she taught at his lycée.

The two entered into matrimony in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was 54.