10 People Found Guilty After Claiming Brigitte Macron Is Transgender

A French court has found ten people guilty of cyberbullying first lady Brigitte Macron after posting false claims that she was transgender.

Eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, were accused of having posted “numerous malicious comments”, falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron’s wife was born a man, each receiving suspended prison sentences of four to eight months. They were also ordered to attend cyber harassment awareness training and pay 10,000 euros in damages to Macron, while another five were permanently suspended from using the social media platform they’d spread the claims on.

Delphine Jegousse, 51, also known as Amandine Roy, was sentenced to six months in prison, less than two years after she and another woman, Natacha Rey, had been ordered to pay €5,000 each in damages for similar claims, though the decision was later overturned on appeal.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial held in October. Speaking with French broadcaster TF1 on Sunday night, Macron said she hoped her case could “set an example” to others who were experiencing similar harassment or cyberbullying.

Further legal battles in Macron’s future

The Macrons are also currently pursing far-right political commentator Candace Owens for similar claims, launching a case in July.

Last year, Owens released an eight-part series on YouTube Becoming Brigitte, in which she claimed Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her brother, with the series garnering more than 2.3 million views.

“Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history — twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade,” the complaint states.

“The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale. Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanising, and deeply unjust.”

Dubbed “tranvestigations“, these campaigns generally target celebrities and other high-profile figures, relying on phrenology-like  ‘evidence’, in which physical features are heavily scrutinised as either male or female.

GLAAD notes the movement began around 2017, and initially targeted Black women including Michelle Obama and Serena Williams, accusing them of secretly being men in a deeply racist and transphobic attempt to discredit their achievements.

A 2021 report from the Wilson Center called the phenomenon, “deeply misogynistic”.

“These narratives tap into the trope of the duplicitous woman, implying that not only are transgender individuals inherently deceptive, but that this deception is responsible for the power and influence that these women hold,” it detailed.