A group of ten convicted of cyber-bullying targeting Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
The defendants faced allegations of spreading false claims regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to posting hurtful comments about the couple's significant age difference.
The court handed down suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A longstanding unfounded claim alleging that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France is concurrent with the Macrons initiating a legal action for defamation in the United States of America against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared comparable unfounded claims about the French president's wife's gender.
Their legal filing contends that Owens ignored substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations opting to give a platform to established defamers.
Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her show and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would bet her whole career on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her now-husband when she was a teacher at his secondary school.
The couple entered into matrimony in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.