<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/27/trial-paris-brigitte-macron-online-harassment-jean-michel-trogneux>
"Ten people have gone on trial in Paris charged with online harassment of
Brigitte Macron – the latest phase of a legal battle on both sides of the
Atlantic against the false claim that the French first lady is a man named
Jean-Michel Trogneux.
The president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit in the
US at the end of July, in connection with a rumour amplified and repeated
online that Brigitte Macron was born a man.
The Macrons’ US lawsuit attacked what it called the “verifiably false and
devastating lies” being repeated online by the rightwing podcaster Candace
Owens that Brigitte Macron, 72, was born male. The US lawsuit said evidence
clearly disproved this “grotesque narrative”, which had become “a campaign of
global humiliation” and “relentless bullying on a worldwide scale”.
The French trial for online harassment is separate to the US court action and
relates to a legal complaint filed by Brigitte Macron in 2024. Ten defendants –
eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60 – are being tried in Paris’s criminal
court, accused of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron. If convicted,
they face up to two years in prison.
The defendants, who deny all wrongdoing, have been accused of making numerous
malicious comments about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality, even equating
her age difference with her husband to “paedophilia”, according to prosecutors.
The court heard Brigitte Macron had told police the online comments were
“hateful” and that it was very hard for her grandchildren to hear it being said
that their grandmother was a man.
Jérôme A, a 49-year-old IT technician, was asked about nine social media posts
in 2024, which he reposted or wrote, about Brigitte Macron being a man or
having a penis. He told the court he had a relatively small Twitter account. He
said: “It was just a joke … I wanted to be sarcastic, nothing more.” He added
that he had posted “in a satirical spirit”.
Jérôme A told the head judge: “Like a lot of people, I’m asking why I’m here
today. Today, you can send people to court for tweets.”
He said that Brigitte Macron, “as a very powerful person, should accept being
criticised”. He denied harassment and said he believed he had not broken the
law.
Another defendant, Jérome C, a debt adviser, told the court he liked posting on
social media from his sofa in the evening. “It was just humour,” he said. “Do
you need a permit in France to crack a joke?”
He also told the court that he had shared posts about Brigitte Macron being a
man or a paedophile in order to “inform” others. He denied harassment.
The Macrons’ US lawsuit has stated that the accusation that Brigitte Macron was
born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux is completely false and Trogneux is in
fact Brigitte Macron’s 80-year-old brother. He lives in the northern French
town of Amiens, where he grew up with Brigitte and four other Trogneux siblings
in a family famous for its local chocolate business. He was present in public
alongside Brigitte at Emmanuel Macron’s two presidential inaugurations in 2017
and 2022.
Among the defendants, who have all denied wrongdoing, is Aurélien
Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known on social media as “Zoé Sagan” and often
linked with conspiracy theory circles."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
