PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is set to rule Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false claims online about her gender and sexual orientation, accusations that Macron’s daughter said damaged her health and family life.
The defendants, who include eight men and two women aged between 41 and 60, are accused of posting a “large number of malicious comments” falsely claiming President Emmanuel Macron’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some posts have been viewed tens of thousands of times.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified that her mother’s life had “deteriorated” since the online harassment intensified. “She was unable to ignore the horrific things being said about her,” Ozier told the court. The impact has been felt throughout the family, including Macron’s grandchildren, she said.
The 51-year-old defendant, Delphine Jegousse, known as Amandine Roy, who describes herself as a media and writer, is believed to have played a role in spreading the rumor after she posted a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.
Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, had his X account suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.
Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Some told the court their comments were made in humor or sarcasm and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.
The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Troniux, which was actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.
The Macrons got married in 2007 and first met in a high school, where Macron was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, then known as Brigitte Auzière, 24 years her husband’s senior, was a married mother of three.
Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been President of France since 2017.
