A group of ten convicted of cyber-bullying directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the wife of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The defendants faced charges of disseminating fabrications regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making defamatory statements about the couple's significant age difference.
The court handed down suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the perpetrators. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A longstanding unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the United States of America against political commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted similar conspiracy theories about the French president's wife's identity.
Their lawsuit states that Owens brushed aside substantial counter-evidence that refuted her assertions opting to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.
Owens has often echoed these assertions on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she worked as an educator at his high school.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.
