Ten convicted of cyber-bullying against Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has convicted ten people for perpetrating the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the wife of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced allegations of disseminating untruths regarding her sex and sexual orientation, in addition to posting hurtful comments about the husband and wife's age disparity of 24 years.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of up to eight months to the defendants. The complete verdict has still to be made public.

A longstanding unfounded claim alleging that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France coincides with the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the US against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted comparable unfounded claims about the first lady's gender.

Their lawsuit alleges that Owens disregarded all credible evidence that refuted her assertions choosing instead to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.

Owens has frequently reiterated these assertions on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would risk all her credibility on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she worked as an educator at his secondary school.

The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.