French President Macron's wife Brigitte wins case against cyber harassers who called her ‘transgender’

The court ruling addresses false claims regarding her gender and sexuality, marking a significant victory for the French first lady.

Updated on: Jan 5, 2026, 18:59:25 IST

By HT News Desk

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A Paris court on Monday pronounced 10 people guilty on charges of cyber harassment of the First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron and spreading false claims about her being a “transgender woman”.

Brigitte Macron in an interview on Sunday defended her fight against cyber bullies and said that she hoped it would be an example to others. (AP)

The 10 individuals, comprising eight men and two women, were found guilty of making malicious comments over Brigitte Macron's gender and sexuality, Reuters reported. They also made other remarks such as terming the 24-year age difference between her and the President “paedophilia”.

The court pronounced them guilty and sentenced them to up to eight months of suspended jail time.

The fight against allegations

Brigitte and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron have been in similar controversies earlier after scandalous posts by cyber harassers saying she was “born a male under the name Jean Michel Trogneux”. That is actually her elder brother.

Although they had ignored these comments for years, they recently begun to challenge the allegations in court.

Brigitte Macron said that online attacks against her seemed endless and included people who broke into her tax website and modified her identity.

The ruling on Monday marked a victory for the Macrons as they pursued a separate high-profile US defamation lawsuit against right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens. Owens had also claimed earlier that Brigitte was born male.

Brigitte Macron in an interview on Sunday defended her fight against cyber bullies and said that she hoped it would be an example to others. She also lamented that her attackers ignored the strong evidence of her gender.

“I want to help adolescents to fight against harassment, and if I do not set an example, it will be difficult,” she said.

(With agency inputs)

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