Ten guilty of cyber bullying for calling Brigitte Macron a man

Ten people were convicted of cyberbullying over false claims about Brigitte Macron's gender and paedophilia. Photo / Getty Images

Ten people have been convicted of cyber bullying over false claims that Brigitte Macron was secretly transgender and guilty of paedophilia.

Eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60, received sentences ranging from four to eight months’ suspended imprisonment, with one defendant also handed a six-month custodial sentence.

That prison term was imposed on Jean-Christophe P., 65, a property manager who was convicted in absentia after failing to appear at the hearing, according to the court in Paris.

The remaining defendants were found guilty of “intentionally harming the plaintiff” through “malicious, degrading and insulting” messages referring to her alleged paedophilia, Thierry Donnard, the presiding judge, said.

He added that the sustained online attacks constituted cyber bullying and had led to “a deterioration of her physical and mental health”. Macron, who married Emmanuel Macron in 2007, did not attend the two-day trial, which took place in October.

During the case, Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a prolific social media agitator known online as Zoé Sagan, continued to denounce what he described as a “shocking state secret involving state-sanctioned paedophilia”. He received an eight-month suspended sentence. His X account was suspended last year after being cited in several judicial investigations.

Bertrand Scholler, 56, an art dealer, who posted mocking photomontages of Macron, was sentenced to six months’ suspended imprisonment. After the verdict, he said the ruling amounted to “a decision by decree of power”, adding: “If what you say does not please, you will be condemned.”

Another central figure, Delphine Jegousse, 51, who uses the alias Amandine Roy and is a self-described “medium and author”, was sentenced to six months suspended.

Prosecutors said she played a “major role” in spreading the conspiracy after releasing a four-hour YouTube video in 2021. The video framed Macron’s supposed gender identity as evidence of a state cover-up. At the hearing, she said that “as a biological woman” she felt “attacked” by the French first lady’s supposed trans identity.

Also convicted were several “followers”, including a teacher, a computer scientist, and an elected official. Prosecutors argued that they amplified the abuse through relentless repetition.

At the heart of the case lies the false allegation that Macron was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux. In reality, that is the name of her brother.

Macron filed her complaint in August 2024, after her lawyers said the cyber bullying had reached an intolerable level.

Speaking on television before the verdict, she said: “I fight constantly against harassment. But if I don’t set an example, how can I ask young people to do the same?”

While Macron did not appear in court, her daughter Tiphaine Auzière, 41, testified that she had detected a “change and a deterioration” in her mother over the baseless claims.

The case also took on an international dimension. In America, Candace Owens, a conservative influencer, amplified the claims in a video series titled Becoming Brigitte, watched by millions. The Macrons have launched a defamation suit in Delaware, seeking “substantial” damages if she continues to repeat the allegations.

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