Ten people have gone on trial in a Paris court charged with online harassment of French First Lady Brigitte Macron, the latest case linked to unsubstantiated claims about her gender.
The defendants – eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60 – stand accused of cyber-harassment after targeting the first lady with claims that she is a transgender woman who was born a man and referring to her 24-year age gap with French President Emmanuel Macron as “paedophilia”.
The trial comes after the Macrons, who were not present as the two-day proceedings opened on Monday, filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July.
The chief judge said the defendants – whose posts quickly gained traction online, racking up tens of thousands of views – had caused a “deterioration” in the first lady’s “physical and mental health”.
Seven of the defendants were in court on Monday, while three others were being represented by their lawyers.
Delphine Jegousse, 51, known as Amandine Roy, who describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumour about the first lady’s gender after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.
Also among the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoe Sagan on social media, who is often linked with conspiracy theory circles and who saw his X account suspended last year.
Others include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist.
The Macrons have for years been dogged by conspiracy theories that Brigitte, 72, was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, who supposedly then took the name Brigitte as a transgender woman.
Jean-Michel Trogneux is the name of Brigitte’s brother. The pair won a defamation suit against Jegousse and another woman who were sentenced by a Paris court to fines and damages for spreading the claims.
A Paris appeals court overturned the ruling in July. Brigitte and her brother have since turned to France’s highest court to appeal that decision.
The claims have been amplified by far-right and conspiracy theorist circles in France, but also in the United States, where transgender rights have become a prime target in US culture wars.
The Macrons’ lawyer in the US case said the couple would be seeking “substantial” damages from conservative influencer Candace Owens, whose YouTube channel has about 4.5 million subscribers, if she persists with claims that Brigitte is a man.
A verdict in the Paris case will likely be issued at a later date.
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