Eight men and two women have been appearing before a Criminal Court in Paris since Monday, accused of "cyberbullying" Brigitte Macron by spreading "malicious comments about her sexuality" on social media, including the rumor about her alleged status as a "transgender woman." The accused could face sentences of up to two years in prison.
The investigation was entrusted to the Brigade for the Suppression of Crime against Persons (BRDP, in French), following a complaint filed in August 2024 by Brigitte Macron herself. The agents made about a dozen arrests.
President Emmanuel Macron (47) and his wife (72) are hopeful that the case will definitively put an end to the "hoax" that has been circulating since the 2017 presidential campaign, which has also led them to take legal action in the United States against influencer Candance Owen. Brigitte Macron has committed to providing the court with "scientific evidence" about her gender and her role as a mother of three children (from her first marriage to André-Louis Auzière).
Among the accused appearing on Monday and Tuesday in a Paris court is Delphine Jégousse, known by the pseudonym Amandine Roy, who was already convicted in 2024 for defamation along with Natacha Rey for claiming that Brigitte Macron never existed and that her brother Jean-Michel assumed her identity after transitioning (both were released in July after appealing the sentence).
Another notable accused is the professor and publicist Aurélien Poirson-Atlán, 41, known on social media by the pseudonym Zoé Sagan, who has been attacking the Macrons for years and spreading conspiracy theories. His account on X was suspended due to multiple complaints.
Among the suspects is also Parisian art dealer Bertrand Scholler, 56, also linked to conspiracy theories about the war in Ukraine, claiming that massacres like the one in Bucha were "staged to increase public opinion against Putin and in favor of NATO and Western governments."
The investigation conducted by the BRPD gathered thousands of "malicious comments about Brigitte Macron's gender and sexuality, as well as the age difference with the president from an angle that equates it to pedophilia." In total, 11 people were arrested between December 2024 and March 2025, and ten are finally standing trial.
Legal experts have criticized the prosecution for choosing "isolated cases as a representative sample and seeking an exemplary sentence, rather than being able to extend guilt to thousands of internet users who contributed to spreading the hoax.