Ten convicted of cyber-bullying directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has convicted ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The defendants faced accusations of spreading fabrications regarding her sex and sexuality, in addition to posting hurtful comments about the husband and wife's 24-year age gap.
The court handed down suspended jail terms of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A circulating unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has spread widely since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.
This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons initiating a legal action for defamation in the United States of America against political commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared analogous false narratives about the French president's wife's gender.
Their complaint states that Owens brushed aside any factual proof that refuted her assertions in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has regularly repeated these assertions on her digital program and social media channels, and in March 2024 stated that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her future husband when she worked as an educator at his lycée.
The two entered into matrimony in 2007, when the then-29-year-old Emmanuel Macron was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.
