Ten convicted of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has convicted ten people for perpetrating the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the partner of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The those on trial faced accusations of circulating false claims regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making malicious remarks about the couple's 24-year age gap.
The court delivered suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the defendants. The complete verdict has yet to be released.
A longstanding false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has existed since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This Monday's court decision in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a legal action for defamation in the United States of America against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted similar conspiracy theories about the first lady's identity.
Their lawsuit contends that Owens ignored substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations opting to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.
Owens has often echoed these assertions on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her future husband when she taught at his secondary school.
The pair married in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was 54.
