A Paris court on Monday found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, in the latest legal action sparked by false claims that she is a transgender woman who was born a man.
The eight men and two women, aged between 41 and 60, had been accused of making malicious comments about Ms Macron’s gender and sexuality, including equating the age difference between her and her husband with “paedophilia”.
The court said those claims were “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious”, and handed down penalties ranging from cyberbullying awareness training to suspended sentences, as well as, in one case, a six-month prison sentence.
Ms Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on TF1 national television on Sunday, she said she had launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.
Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, a self-described medium known as Amandine Roy, 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.
She was also the subject of a defamation complaint launched by Ms Macron three years ago.
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.
During the trial, defendant 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.
Arrests were made in December 2024 and February 2025, and all 10 denied wrongdoing.
The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Ms Macron was born male and was given the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother.
The wild, unsubstantiated claims about Ms 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 the first lady of France was born a man.
The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against Ms Owens.
