Ten sentenced of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has convicted ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the partner of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced charges of disseminating false claims regarding her sex and sexual orientation, in addition to publishing hurtful comments about the couple's 24-year age gap.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The detailed judgment has not yet been published.

A persistent false narrative alleging that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.

This Monday's court decision in France is concurrent with the Macrons pursuing a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted similar conspiracy theories about the French president's wife's identity.

Their legal filing alleges that Owens brushed aside any factual proof contradicting her allegations choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.

Brigitte Macron initially encountered her now-husband when she was a teacher at his lycée.

The couple married in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.