French court convicts 10 for cyberbullying First Lady Brigitte Macron

A Paris court on Monday convicted 10 people of cyberbullying France's First Lady Brigitte Macron over false online claims about her gender identity and sexuality, including allegations she was born male.

The defendants, aged between 41 and 65, received sentences ranging from cyberbullying awareness training to eight-month suspended prison terms.

The court cited "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious" comments that falsely alleged Brigitte Macron was transgender and made baseless accusations linking her 24-year age gap with President Emmanuel Macron to paedophilia. Some posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October but told TF1 television on Sunday she pursued legal action to "set an example" against harassment.

Her daughter Tiphaine Auzière testified about the "deterioration" of her mother's life since the harassment intensified, stating: "She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her." Auzière said the impact had affected the entire family, including Macron's grandchildren.

Delphine Jegousse, 51, who uses the name Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and author, received a six-month prison sentence.

Authorities consider her to have played a major role in spreading the rumours after she released a four-hour video on YouTube in 2021.

Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, received an eight-month sentence. His X account was suspended in 2024 after his name appeared in several judicial investigations.

Other defendants included an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were meant as humour or satire and questioned why they faced prosecution.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron was born male and that her birth name was Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is her brother's name.

The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens, who has not backed down on similar claims she made on her podcast and online as part of what conspiracists call "transvestigations".