10 People on Trial for Online Harassment of Brigitte Macron
The French first lady says false online rumors claiming she is transgender have damaged her reputation and taken a toll on her health.
Ten people are on trial in France, accused of engaging in sexist online harassment of First Lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false and malicious claims about her.
The posts alleged that the French president’s wife is transgender and was born male under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux — the name of her older brother. Some also equated the 25-year age gap between the 72-year-old first lady and her 47-year-old husband to “pedophilia,” according to Agence France-Presse.
The Macrons first met in 1993, when Brigitte was a 39-year-old married teacher at Lycée La Providence in Amiens and Emmanuel Macron was her 15-year-old student — and a classmate of her daughter. (The age of consent in France is 15.) They reconnected years later after Macron graduated from Lycée Henri-IV in Paris and married in 2007.
Brigitte Macron filed a cyberharassment complaint last year after messages and photos mocking her spread online. She told police the posts were “hateful” and had a devastating impact on her grandchildren, as well as on her own physical and mental health, which she said has “deteriorated” as a result, according to The New York Times.
She also testified during a 2024 hearing that years of online rumors — spread by right-wing outlets soon after her husband’s 2017 election — have damaged her reputation. “Every time I go on an international visit, someone brings it up,” she said. “There isn’t a single spouse of a Head of State who isn’t aware of it.”
The first lady did not attend the two-day trial, where ten defendants — eight men and two women, ages 41 to 65 — faced charges of cyberbullying and spreading false rumors about her sexuality, gender, and marriage.
If convicted, the defendants each face up to two years in prison and fines of 30,000 euros — about $35,000. A verdict is expected on January 5.
On October 28, Brigitte Macron’s youngest daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified that the rumors have forced her mother to be vigilant about how she dresses and poses in public, because “she knows her image can be distorted to promote lies and fallacious theories.”
Auzière added, “As a girl, a woman, and a mother, I wouldn’t wish what she’s going through on anyone.”
During the trial, several defendants downplayed their roles in spreading the rumors, claiming they lacked large social media followings and that speculation about the Macrons’ relationship was fair game because they are public figures.
They also said many of their posts merely reshared content from others — including American conservative commentator Candace Owens — and were meant as sarcasm.
“It’s a joke, it’s funny,” said Jérôme Claverie, a 53-year-old finance worker from southern France, defending his posts. “Do you need a certificate or diploma to make jokes in France?”
In closing arguments, prosecutors singled out three defendants with large social media followings, arguing they should face harsher penalties: Bertrand Scholler, 56, a Paris art gallery owner with more than 100,000 followers on X; Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known online as “Zoé Sagan”; and Delphine Jegousse, 51, also known as “Amandine Roy,” a self-described medium and author accused of playing a major role in spreading the conspiracy theory that the first lady is transgender.
In 2021, Jegousse released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel featuring an interview with self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey, who claimed that a three-year investigation had uncovered a “state-sponsored lie,” alleging that Brigitte Macron was born male, that her walk and jaw were too masculine, and that she was not the biological mother of her three children.
After Jegousse posted the video, it drew hundreds of thousands of views and the attention of both French and international media, according to France 24.
The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in Delaware against conservative influencer Candace Owens, who produced a video series titled “Becoming Brigitte.” In it, Owens alleged that Brigitte Macron was born male and had assumed the identity of a younger sister who died in childhood.
Owens, whose YouTube channel has 4.5 million subscribers, continues to stand by her claims. In a July podcast episode, she said she was eager to see what information the Macrons would have to disclose during the lawsuit’s “discovery” phase and even demanded that Brigitte Macron provide blood samples and childhood photos to “prove” she is female.
The Macrons’ U.S. attorney says the couple will present “scientific” evidence and photographs proving that the first lady is not transgender, according to a BBC report last month.
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