Two French women, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy, have been found guilty of slander for spreading false claims about France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron.
In December 2021, they falsely asserted online that Brigitte Macron was a transgender woman and that her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, had undergone gender reassignment surgery.
The court ordered the women to pay €8,000 (£6,750; $8,859) in damages to Mrs. Macron and an additional €5,000 to her brother.
Mrs. Macron had filed a lawsuit after the unfounded allegations gained traction, particularly among far-right groups and conspiracy theorists.
The false claims were propagated through a YouTube video in which Rey, a self-described independent journalist, and Roy, an internet fortune-teller, discussed the baseless rumors.
Their video, which lasted four hours, was broadcast on Roy’s channel and claimed to expose what Rey described as a “state lie.”
The rumor quickly spread on social media platforms, notably among far-right circles, anti-vaccine activists, and followers of the QAnon movement.
Mrs. Macron’s legal team took swift action, filing a libel suit a month after the video’s release.
Jean Ennochi, Mrs. Macron’s lawyer, emphasized the seriousness of the damage caused by the rumors, stating, “The prejudice is massive, it exploded everywhere.”
He also noted that the court’s decision was a routine application of the law, not a personal victory.
This incident is part of a broader pattern of attacks against Mrs. Macron, which have previously focused on her age difference with President Emmanuel Macron.
Source-BBC
