Ten people to face trial in Paris for online harassment of Brigitte Macron

Eight men and two women will face court for allegedly harassing the French first lady by falsely claiming she is a man

Ten people will face court for allegedly harassing France’s first lady Brigitte Macron by falsely claiming she is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux.

On Monday, eight men and two women aged from 41 to 60 will be tried in a criminal court in Paris over allegations of online harassment, which carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Separately, a US civil defamation lawsuit was filed in July by Ms Macron and her husband, the French president Emmanuel Macron, against far-right American podcaster Candace Owens, who has repeatedly amplified online the false claim that Ms Macron was born a man.

France’s first lady Brigitte Macron has been subject to false claims about her gender (AFP/Getty)

Tom Clare, a lawyer acting for the Macrons, said the couple are ready to prove “generally and specifically” that Ms Owens’ allegations that Ms Macron was born male are false. Their evidence would include scientific proof that she is a woman, he said.

The French trial relates to a complaint filed by Ms Macron in 2024, which accuses all 10 defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, of allegedly making malicious comments about her gender and sexuality. Arrests were made in December 2024 and February 2025.

Several of those set for trial shared posts made by Ms Owens.

Prosecutors argue that the comments were as extreme as equating the age difference between the Macrons with “paedophilia”.

Conservative commentator Candace Owens has repeatedly amplified the false claim that Brigitte Macron was born male (Getty)

One of the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist who uses the name “Zoe Sagan” on social media and has been linked to circles that propound conspiracy theories.

Another defendant is Delphine J, 51, who is already the subject of a defamation complaint filed by Ms Macron in 2022.

In 2021, Delphine J, who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy, posted a four-hour interview with a self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey, alleging that Ms Macron had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux.

Emmanuel Macron is 24 years younger than his wife Brigitte, whom he married when he was 30 (Getty)

The civil lawsuit is currently being appealed by the two women after they were ordered to pay damages to Ms Macron and her brother in 2024.

Ms Macron is 24 years older than her husband, and first met him when she was a teacher at his Jesuit secondary school in Amiens, directing him in a school play.

The lawsuit filed in the US states: “Through the school’s theatre programme, President Macron and Mrs Macron formed a deeper intellectual connection,” adding: “At all times the teacher-student relationship between Mrs Macron and President Macron remained within the bounds of the law.”

Ms Macron has three children from her first marriage. She divorced in 2006 and married Emmanuel Macron the following year, when he was 30.