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A French judicial body has convicted ten people for carrying out the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced charges of circulating untruths regarding her gender identity and sexual orientation, in addition to posting malicious remarks about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.
The court issued suspended prison sentences of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A circulating false narrative suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has spread widely since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France is concurrent with the Macrons engaging in a libel case in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced comparable unfounded claims about the Brigitte Macron's gender.
Their complaint alleges that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence contradicting her allegations choosing instead to give a platform to established defamers.
Owens has regularly repeated these allegations on her digital program and social media channels, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her belief that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her current spouse when she worked as an educator at his lycée.
The pair entered into matrimony in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was 54.
