Ten people are currently on trial in Paris for allegedly harassing French First Lady Brigitte Macron by falsely claiming she is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux.
Eight men and two women have been accused of spreading “numerous malicious comments” online about the first lady’s gender and “sexuality” and of mentioning her age gap with her husband as “paedophilia”.
If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.
The wild, unsubstantiated claims about Mrs Macron’s gender have also been gaining ground in the US, where far-right podcaster Candace Owens has repeatedly amplified the false claim online that Mrs Macron was born a man.
The Independent looks at the allegations made about Mrs Macron.
What are the allegations made about Brigitte Macron?
The false claims spread online allege that Mrs Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the actual name of her older brother.
The Macrons have for years been dogged by conspiracy theories that she was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, before taking the name Brigitte as a transgender woman.
Prosecutors also say that defendants equated the age difference between Ms Macron, 72, and her husband, 47, to “paedophilia”.
Jerome A, 49, was asked about posts he wrote or reposted last year about Ms Macron being a man or having a penis. He told the court that “it was just a joke”, adding that his posts were “satirical” in spirit.
The defendants also include Delphine J, a woman previously the subject of a defamation complaint launched by Ms Macron three years ago.
In December 2021, she had posted a four-hour interview with blogger Natacha Rey on YouTube, alleging that Ms Macron had once been a man.
Rey said she believed Brigitte Macron was actually a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux, before the video amassed a huge viewership.
Delphine J, also known as Amandine Roy, and Rey were ordered to pay damages last year, but their conviction was overturned following a successful appeal. The court ruled the case did not qualify as defamation. Macron and her brother have taken the case to the highest appeals court.
Why are 10 people on trial?
The French trial relates to a complaint filed by Ms Macron in 2024, which accuses all 10 defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, of allegedly making malicious comments about her gender and sexuality.
Arrests were made in December 2024 and February 2025. All 10 deny wrongdoing.
Several of those set for trial shared posts made by Ms Owens.
Roy was in the dock in the case heard at Paris Correctional Court on Monday. Her lawyer, Maud Marian, said that her client had only replied to other posts.
During this trial, Roy exercised her right to remain silent, Le Parisien reports.
Jerome C denied harassment and said that he had shared posts to “inform” others.
“These are tweets, posts that can be considered as harassment of Brigitte Macron,” Carlo Brusa, one of the defendants’ lawyers said, adding that his client was “part of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people who tweeted and re-tweeted this story”.
One defendant told the court that they had a relatively small account.
What has Candace Owens said about Brigitte Macron?
The Macrons are seeking damages in a separate lawsuit against Ms Owens after suing her on 22 counts, including defamation and false light.
Tom Clare, a lawyer acting for the Macrons, has said the couple are ready to prove “generally and specifically” that Ms Owens’ allegations that Ms Macron was born male are false. Their evidence would include scientific proof that she is a woman, he said.
Mr Clare said last month that the couple has found Ms Owens’ claims “extremely upsetting”.
“It is our earnest hope that this lawsuit will set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all,” the Macrons said in a statement at the time.
A statement said Ms Owens had “promoted a preposterous narrative about the Macrons, including incendiary and verifiably false accusations of identity theft, incest, violent crimes, and mind control”.
Ms Owens filed a motion to dismiss in September, arguing that Delaware courts have no jurisdiction over the Macrons’ complaint, and that the claims should be filed in France or Tennessee, where Ms Owens lives, if filed at all.
Her lawyers called the lawsuit “quintessential libel tourism” intended to sidestep France’s three-month statute of limitations for defamation claims.
How has Brigitte Macron responded?
In August, the French president touched upon the lawsuit filed against Ms Owens in a wide-ranging Paris Match interview that he felt compelled to sue because the false claims had taken on a life of their own in the US.
“This has become so widespread in the United States that we had to react,” Macron said in French. “It’s a question of having the truth respected.” The French leader said he will pursue the lawsuit to the end because her allegations were “nonsense”.
Asked about the hostility he and Brigitte have gotten stateside in the wake of Ms Owens’ remarks, Macron said: “It is not freedom of speech to want to prevent the restoration of the truth. Those who talk to you about this so-called freedom of speech are the ones who ban journalists from the Oval Office. I do not accept this.”
Ms Owens’ remarks subjected the couple to a “campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies,” the complaint says.
The Independent approached Candace Owens for comment.
