Ten On Trial in Paris for Harassing Brigitte Macron Online
By Staff, Agencies
A Paris court will on Monday open the trial of ten individuals accused of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron, part of an ongoing international battle against false claims that the French first lady is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux.
The French trial comes after the president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit in the US at the end of July, in connection with a rumour amplified and repeated online that Brigitte Macron was born a man.
The Macrons’ US lawsuit attacked what it called the “verifiably false and devastating lies” being repeated online by the rightwing podcaster Candace Owens that Brigitte Macron, 72, was born male.
The US lawsuit said evidence clearly disproved this “grotesque narrative”, which had become “a campaign of global humiliation” and “relentless bullying on a worldwide scale”.
The Paris case stems from Brigitte Macron’s 2024 complaint and is separate from US proceedings. Ten defendants, aged 41 to 60, face up to two years in prison if convicted of online harassment.
The defendants, who deny all wrongdoing, have been accused of making numerous malicious comments about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality, even equating her age difference with her husband to “paedophilia”, according to prosecutors.
The Macrons’ US lawsuit states that claims Brigitte Macron was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux are false. Trogneux is actually her 80-year-old brother from Amiens, where they grew up in a well-known chocolate-making family. He appeared publicly with her at Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 and 2022 inaugurations.
The French first lady filed a complaint in Paris in August 2024 that led to an investigation into online harassment and arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.
Among the defendants denying wrongdoing are publicist Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known online as “Zoe Sagan” and linked to conspiracy circles, and Delphine J, 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium called Amandine Roy, already targeted by Brigitte Macron’s 2022 defamation complaint.
In 2021, she posted a four-hour interview with self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey on her YouTube channel, alleging Brigitte Macron, whose maiden name is Trogneux, had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux.
In 2024, two women ordered to pay damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother had their conviction overturned on appeal. The court didn’t validate the false claims but ruled the case didn’t meet the legal definition of defamation.
Brigitte Macron and Jean-Michel Trogneux have taken the case to France’s highest appeals court, the cour de cassation.
Since Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 election, false claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man have spread through far-right and conspiracy circles. In July, the Macrons filed a US defamation suit against Owens, producer of the series Becoming Brigitte.
The Macrons are planning to offer “scientific” evidence and photos proving that the first lady was not born a man, according to their US lawyer.
Several of those to go on trial in Paris shared posts from the influencer.
The false theory about Brigitte Macron’s gender spread in part because the Macrons’ relationship had long been a topic of comment online.
Brigitte Macron, who is 24 years older than her husband, first met Emmanuel Macron when she was a French teacher at his Jesuit secondary school in Amiens, directing him in a school play.
The Macrons’ lawsuit said their bond began through a school theatre program but always stayed within legal teacher-student boundaries. Brigitte, a mother of three, divorced in 2006 and married Emmanuel Macron a year later when he was 30.
Brigitte Macron last addressed the false gender claims in 2022, calling them an “impossible” attack on her family. She said she spoke out to set an example and make fighting online bullying “her battle.”
