Eight men and two women go on trial in Paris on Monday and Tuesday, accused of sexist online bullying of France’s first lady Brigitte Macron.
The defendants are aged between 41 and 60. They include an elected official, gallery owner, teacher, medium and IT specialist.
They are accused of posting malicious comments online about Brigitte Macron’s “gender” and “sexuality”, and of comparing her age gap with her husband to “paedophilia”, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The investigation followed a complaint lodged by Brigitte Macron on 27 August 2024. It led to several waves of arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.
Trial over online abuse
Investigators said they selected “only the most virulent” offenders. If convicted, the accused face up to two years in prison.
Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Ennochi, has not confirmed whether she will attend the hearing.
Among the accused is 41-year-old advertising executive Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, known on social media under the pseudonym “Zoé Sagan”.
His X account, since suspended, has been the subject of several complaints and is often described as being linked to conspiracy circles.
Another defendant is 51-year-old medium, self-styled journalist and “whistleblower” Delphine J, known online as Amandine Roy.
She played a major role in spreading the rumour that Brigitte Macron, born Trogneux, was a transgender woman whose birth name was Jean-Michel, referring to her brother.
Delphine J was convicted of defamation by a French court in September 2024 alongside independent journalist Natacha Rey. She was ordered to pay several thousand euros in damages to Brigitte Macron and €5,000 to Jean-Michel Trogneux.
She was later acquitted on appeal on 10 July this year.
Brigitte Macron and her brother have lodged an appeal before the Court of Cassation against that ruling.
Disinformation targeting Brigitte Macron spreads beyond France
Claims spread to US
The trial comes a few days after a BFMTV documentary revealed that the first lady’s online tax file had been hacked in September 2024 and her name changed to Jean-Michel.
“Mrs Macron filed a lawsuit to find out where the change had come from and investigators identified two people,” Tristan Bromet, her chief of staff, said.
The claim that the French first lady was born a man first surfaced in 2021 in far-right magazine Faits et Documents. It then went viral in the United States. Far-right podcaster and pundit Candace Owens released a video series titled Becoming Brigitte.
In March, Owens said she “would stake [her] entire professional reputation” on the claim that Brigitte was born male. In late July, the presidential couple launched legal action in the US against Owens for defamation.
Several of those on trial in Paris are accused of amplifying content from Owens.
A doctored Time magazine cover showed Brigitte Macron as “Man of the Year” with the caption “Excellent”.
In another post, a defendant shared claims that “2,000 people” were ready to go “door to door in Amiens to get to the bottom of the Brigitte affair”, promising the involvement of American bloggers.
President Emmanuel Macron has called the accusations against his wife “false and fabricated”. On International Women’s Day this year he said: “The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios. People eventually believe them.”
