10 Found Guilty of Cyberbullying Wife of French President

Ten people have been found guilty of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, by a Paris court, BBC News reported.

The defendants were accused of spreading false claims about her gender and sexuality, as well as making “malicious remarks” about the 24-year age gap between the couple.

They were handed suspended prison sentences of up to eight months. The full ruling has yet to be published.

A conspiracy theory falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has circulated since her husband was first elected in 2017.

The ruling comes as the Macrons pursue a defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also promoted conspiracy theories about the first lady’s gender.

The couple alleged that Owens “disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favor of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers.”

Owens has repeatedly voiced the claims on her podcast and social media channels, and in March 2024 said she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on her belief that Mrs. Macron “is in fact a man.”

Brigitte Macron first met her future husband when she was a teacher at his secondary school. The couple married in 2007, when Emmanuel Macron was 29, and she was in her mid-50s.