A Paris court has delivered guilty verdicts against ten individuals for the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron. The case centered on a sustained campaign of cyberbullying that included spreading falsehoods about her gender and sexuality, as well as malicious commentary regarding the couple’s 24-year age difference. The court handed down a range of sentences. One defendant received a six-month prison sentence to be served immediately. Eight others were given suspended prison sentences ranging from four to eight months, which function similarly to probation. The tenth person was fined and ordered to complete a sensitivity training course. Additionally, three individuals identified as key instigators in the harassment campaign were banned from accessing their social media accounts for a period of six months. The core of the abusive online activity involved promoting a baseless conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron, who is 72, was assigned male at birth. Proponents of this false narrative have incorrectly claimed she is actually her older brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, and that she later transitioned. This type of targeted rumor, sometimes called transvestigation, is a recognized form of online hate that attacks both transgender and cisgender individuals. In Brigitte Macron’s case, the harassment was compounded by persistent public scrutiny over her age gap with the 48-year-old president, a topic that has followed them since their marriage in 2007. This French legal action is part of a broader effort by Brigitte Macron to confront the spread of defamatory claims about her. In July 2025, she filed a separate defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing commentator Candace Owens. Owens has repeatedly used her platform to promote the false claims about Macron’s gender and has publicly stated she is willing to stake her professional reputation on their accuracy. The court’s ruling underscores a growing legal willingness to address coordinated online harassment and the spread of damaging personal conspiracy theories, even when they target public figures.
