10 people found guilty of cyberharassment, French First Lady Brigitte Macron

A Paris court on Monday found ten people guilty of cyberstalking France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, by spreading false claims online about her gender and sexuality, including claims that she was born a man.

The court handed down sentences to all defendants, ranging from cyberbullying awareness training to 8-month suspended prison sentences.

The court highlighted “particularly degrading, insulting and malicious” comments referring to false allegations concerning an alleged trans identity and alleged child abuse targeting Brigitte Macron.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, were accused of having published “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that 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 days of the trial in October. Speaking on national television TF1 on Sunday, she said she had launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she called the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auziere told the court. She said the impact extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, known as Amandine Roy and describing herself as a medium and author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumor after broadcasting a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

Aurélien Poirson-Atlan’s

Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually her brother’s first name. The Macrons also filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

The Macrons, married since 2007, met for the first time at high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years older than her husband, was then called Brigitte Auzière, married and mother of three children.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been president of France since 2017.