PARIS — A Paris court found Monday 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, including allegations that she was born a male.
One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, while eight were handed suspended sentences between four and eight months. All 10 were ordered to attend cyberbullying awareness training.
The court pointed to “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments referring to false claims suggesting that Brigitte Macron was transgender and a pedophile.
“Repeated publications have had cumulative harmful effects,” the court said.
The defendants, eight men and two women ranging in age from 41 to 65, were accused of having posted numerous comments falsely claiming that the wife of President Emmanuel Macron was born male and likening their 24-year age gap to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.
Brigitte Macron didn't attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on TF1 national television Sunday, she said that she launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.
Her lawyer, Jean Ennochi, said Monday that “what is important is that there are immediate cyberbullying awareness trainings, and for some of the defendants, a ban on using their social media accounts.”
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the "deterioration" of her mother's life since the online harassment intensified. "She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her," Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron's grandchildren.
One of the defendants, a property asset manager, received a six-month prison sentence. Under French law, the sentence may be served at home, possibly while wearing an ankle monitor or following other requirements set by a judge.
Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021. She was given a six-month prison sentence.
The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations. Poirson-Atlan was given an eight-month prison sentence, along with another defendant, a gallery owner.
The one defendant not given a prison sentence was a teacher, who apologized during the trial. He will have to attend the cyberbullying awareness training.
Several will see their online access suspended for six months on the social media where they made their posts.
All 10 were also sentenced to jointly pay 10,000 euros ($11,675) in compensation to Brigitte Macron for moral damage.
The sentences were proportional to the seriousness of the comments, the court stressed.
French judicial authorities didn’t disclose the names of the defendants, but some made their names public by speaking out.
During the trial, several defendants told the court that their comments were intended as humor or satire, and said they didn't understand why they were being prosecuted.
The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.
The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. The 72-year-old Brigitte Macron is 24 years her husband's senior, and she was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.
Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.
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Catherine Gaschka and Oleg Cetinic contributed to this report.
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