A Parisian court is poised to deliver a pivotal verdict on Monday in a high-profile cyber harassment trial involving ten individuals accused of systematically targeting France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron. The defendants, comprising eight men and two women ranging from 41 to 60 years old, face charges of orchestrating a malicious digital campaign filled with defamatory content regarding Madame Macron’s gender identity and personal life.
The prosecution alleges these individuals disseminated extensively shared falsehoods claiming the President’s wife was assigned male at birth—a completely fabricated assertion—while simultaneously attempting to weaponize the 24-year age difference between the Macrons by making baseless associations with criminal behavior. This coordinated online harassment generated tens of thousands of engagements across social platforms.
Although absent from the October proceedings, Brigitte Macron’s voice resonated through her daughter Tiphaine Auzière’s emotional testimony. Auzière detailed the profound psychological and physical toll the relentless cyberbullying inflicted on her mother, describing a noticeable deterioration in her wellbeing and emphasizing how the entire family unit, including young grandchildren, suffered collateral damage from the vicious rumors.
Among the accused stands Delphine Jegousse, a 51-year-old known professionally as Amandine Roy, who prosecutors identify as a central figure in amplifying the conspiracy theory following her 2021 four-hour YouTube exposition. Another defendant, Aurélien Poirson-Atlan (operating online as Zoé Sagan), faced platform removal in 2024 after multiple judicial citations.
The defendant pool includes surprising figures such as an elected official, an educator, and a technology professional. Several argued in court that their posts constituted satire or humor, expressing bewilderment at criminal prosecution. If convicted, they confront potential two-year prison sentences.
This case represents the judicial culmination of years of persistent conspiracy theories falsely identifying Brigitte Macron as “Jean-Michel Trogneux”—actually her brother’s name. Simultaneously, the Macron family pursues international legal recourse through a defamation lawsuit in United States courts against conservative commentator Candace Owens.
The Macrons’ relationship began conventionally at a French secondary school where Emmanuel was a student and Brigitte his teacher. Then Brigitte Auzière—a married mother of three—would eventually become France’s First Lady following their 2007 marriage, with Emmanuel assuming presidential duties a decade later.