Ten individuals convicted of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the partner of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced accusations of spreading false claims regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to publishing malicious remarks about the husband and wife's significant age difference.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The detailed judgment has still to be made public.

A longstanding false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.

This Monday's court decision in France is concurrent with the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared similar conspiracy theories about the Brigitte Macron's identity.

Their complaint alleges that Owens ignored any factual proof disproving her claim opting to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has frequently reiterated these claims on her show and online platforms, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would risk all her credibility on her belief that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

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

The pair married in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.