Ten found guilty of digital abuse targeting Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has found guilty ten people for perpetrating the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced allegations of circulating false claims regarding her gender and sexual orientation, in addition to posting malicious remarks about the pair's 24-year age gap.

The court issued suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the perpetrators. The complete verdict has yet to be released.

A circulating unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's initial election in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France is concurrent with the Macrons engaging in a legal action for defamation in the US against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared analogous false narratives about the French president's wife's gender.

Their lawsuit contends that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations opting to platforming known conspiracy theorists.

Owens has often echoed these claims on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her future husband when she worked as an educator at his lycée.

The pair entered into matrimony in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.