Ten convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has found guilty ten people for perpetrating the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the partner of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.

The defendants faced allegations of disseminating untruths regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to publishing hurtful comments about the husband and wife's significant age difference.

The court delivered suspended jail terms of as much as eight months to the convicted individuals. The complete verdict has not yet been published.

A longstanding conspiracy theory 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 comes as the Macrons pursuing a defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared comparable unfounded claims about the first lady's identity.

Their legal filing contends that Owens disregarded all credible evidence contradicting her allegations in favour of give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has regularly repeated these claims on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would bet her whole career on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.

Brigitte Macron initially encountered her current spouse when she was a teacher at his high school.

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