A group of defendants, aged between 41 and 60, are reportedly quite active on social media platforms, where their posts have garnered tens of thousands of views. Among them, a woman claiming to be a medium and an advertising executive—whose X account is now suspended—are believed to have played significant roles in circulating these rumors.
Other individuals involved in the case include a public official, a teacher, and a computer scientist.
The rumors have plagued the Macrons for years, suggesting that Brigitte Macron was originally a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, before transitioning to become Brigitte. Notably, Jean-Michel Trogneux is actually the name of Brigitte Macron’s brother.
This two-day trial, commencing Monday in Paris, follows a defamation lawsuit filed by the Macrons in July in a Delaware court. Their lawyer has indicated that they will seek substantial damages from U.S. conservative commentator Candace Owens if she continues to propagate claims alleging Brigitte Macron is a man.
Owens, a well-known right-wing political commentator, boasts a YouTube channel with approximately 4.5 million subscribers.
Owens is a right-leaning political commentator whose YouTube channel has about 4.5 million subscribers.
In 2024, she was denied a visa from New Zealand and Australia, citing remarks in which she denied Nazi medical experimentation on Jews in concentration camps during World War II.
A verdict in the Paris case will likely be issued at a later date.
In September 2024, Brigitte and Jean-Michel Trogneux won a defamation suit against two women who were sentenced by a Paris court to fines and damages for spreading the claims about the first lady online.
A Paris appeals court overturned the ruling in July. Brigitte and her brother have since turned to France’s highest court to appeal that decision.
The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.
Emmanuel Macron, 47, has been France’s president since 2017.
