Ten people were found guilty Monday of cyberbullying France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims challenging her gender and sexuality, including allegations she was born a man.
A Paris court convicted all defendants to sentences ranging from a cyberbullying awareness training to eight-month suspended prison terms, France24 reports.
The court pointed to “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments referring to false claims regarding alleged trans identity and alleged pedocriminality targeting Brigitte Macron.
The France24 report notes the defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, are accused of having posted “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming President Emmanuel Macron’s wife was born a man and linking their 24-year age gap to paedophilia.
Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times though social media.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.
Speaking on TF1 national television Sunday, she said she launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment, AP reports.
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified as to the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified.
French author Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, AKA Zoe Sagan, speaks during a break in his trial with nine other persons accused of sexist cyber-harassment of the wife of the French President, in Paris, on October 28, 2025. Ten people have now been found guilty of sexist cyber-harassment of Brigitte Macron, in the latest case sparked by unsubstantiated gender claims thrown at her for years in France and beyond. (STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty)
“She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren, according to AP.
It is not the first time the Macrons have turned to the legal system to combat rumours about Brigitte’s gender. In 2022, Mrs Macron filed a formal complaint for public defamation in France against freelance journalist Natacha Rey and self-described “medium” Amandine Roy.
The pair were convicted in 2023 by a French court of libel and were ultimately fined $2,600.
That case – and subsequent legal challenges – follow years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother.
The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against commentator Candace Owens, as Breitbart News reported.
The first couple of France filed a 218-page lawsuit in the U.S. state of Delaware last year against Mrs Owens and her businesses, alleging she has financially gained from making “demonstrably false” claims about Brigitte Macron being secretly transgender.
AP reports the Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher.
Mrs Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.
France24, AP contributed to this report
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