10 people found guilty of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron

A Paris court has found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady Brigitte Macron.

All defendants were handed a variety of sentences, ranging from cyberbullying awareness training to eight-month suspended prison terms.

The French court pointed to “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments referring to false claims regarding alleged trans identity and alleged criminality targeting Ms Macron.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, were accused of having posted “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that French president Emmanuel Macron’s wife was born a man, and linking their 24-year age gap to paedophilia.

Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Ms Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on TF1 national television on Sunday, she said she launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auziere, gave evidence 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,” Ms Auziere told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Ms Macron’s grandchildren.

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 rumour after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

The X account of Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoe Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humour or satire and said they did not 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. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auziere, a married mother-of-three.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.