Ten individuals convicted of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron
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A Paris court has convicted ten people for engaging in the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced accusations of disseminating untruths regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to publishing hurtful comments about the pair's age disparity of 24 years.
The court delivered suspended jail terms of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The full ruling has still to be made public.
A persistent conspiracy theory alleging that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This Monday's court decision in France comes as the Macrons pursuing a legal action for defamation in the US against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced comparable unfounded claims about the French president's wife's identity.
Their complaint contends that Owens disregarded any factual proof contradicting her allegations choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.
Owens has frequently reiterated these claims on her podcast and social networks, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her belief that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her now-husband when she taught at his lycée.
The pair entered into matrimony in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
