Ten people are facing trial in Paris after being accused of harassing France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, online over a conspiracy theory falsely claiming she was born male. The trial is the latest development in a broader legal campaign by Brigitte and President Emmanuel Macron, who have also filed a separate defamation lawsuit in the US targeting right-wing commentator Candace Owens. The Macrons' US suit describes the rumors as "verifiably false" and part of a "campaign of global humiliation," while their French legal action led to the current case against eight men and two women between 41 and 60 years old, who face up to two years in prison if convicted, per the Guardian.
The defendants, who deny the charges, are accused of spreading malicious accusations that Brigitte Macron is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux (actually her 80-year-old brother) and that her relationship with Emmanuel Macron, 24 years her junior, amounts to "paedophilia." Brigitte Macron, 72, met her husband when she was his high school teacher, years before they married. She has largely avoided public comment on the rumors since 2022, when she called them an "impossible" attack on her family tree and said she hoped her case would set an example for others facing online bullying. The Macrons' legal team says they now plan to introduce "scientific" evidence to refute the claims.
Among those on trial are an elected official, a teacher, and a gallery owner, per the BBC. The defendants also include Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, a publicist known online as "Zoé Sagan," and Delphine J or "Amandine Roy," a self-described medium previously involved in related legal disputes with Macron. Delphine J, along with independent journalist Natacha Rey, had earlier been ordered to pay damages related to a 2021 interview, but that 2024 conviction was overturned on appeal, with judges ruling the case didn't meet the legal definition of defamation. Brigitte Macron and her brother are appealing that decision.
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