A group of ten convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has convicted ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the partner of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The accused individuals faced allegations of circulating untruths regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making defamatory statements about the husband and wife's 24-year age gap.

The court handed down conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has not yet been published.

A persistent false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France comes as the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared similar conspiracy theories about the first lady's identity.

Their lawsuit contends that Owens ignored substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has regularly repeated these allegations on her digital program and social networks, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron was born a man.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her now-husband when she taught at his high school.

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