Ten individuals go on trial in Paris on Monday over a coordinated online campaign that targeted France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron with sexist and defamatory claims about her gender — a case that underscores the growing threat of cyber-harassment and misinformation against public figures worldwide.
The defendants — eight men and two women aged between 41 and 60 — are accused of sexist cyber-harassment and defamation after spreading false and malicious allegations that Mrs. Macron was assigned male at birth. Prosecutors say the campaign, which gained traction on social media and video-sharing platforms, also included derogatory remarks about her appearance, age, and marriage to President Emmanuel Macron.
If convicted, the group faces up to two years in prison and heavy fines.
The defamatory claims — alleging that Brigitte Macron, née Trogneux, was once a man named “Jean-Michel Trogneux” — have circulated since 2017, the year Emmanuel Macron was elected president.
The conspiracy, rooted in far-right and anti-establishment online communities, resurfaced repeatedly over the years, fueled by viral misinformation and transphobic narratives that mirror similar disinformation campaigns seen globally against prominent women leaders.
“The allegations are entirely false, baseless, and deeply offensive,” said one legal source close to the case. “They are part of a deliberate attempt to humiliate and discredit the First Lady.”
Brigitte Macron filed an official complaint in August 2024, prompting a months-long investigation that led to multiple arrests between December 2024 and February 2025.
Among the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, a 41-year-old publicist known online as “Zoe Sagan”, who is alleged to have played a key role in amplifying the hoax across conspiracy forums.
Another is Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed “spiritual medium” who published a four-hour interview on YouTube in 2021 with a self-described independent journalist, Natacha Rey, repeating the false gender claims.
That video became the central piece of the misinformation campaign, viewed thousands of times before it was taken down. Both women were ordered to pay damages to the Macrons in 2024 — a ruling that was later overturned on appeal. The First Lady has since taken the case to France’s highest court of appeal.
In July 2025, Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron also filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative American commentator Candace Owens, who produced a series titled “Becoming Brigitte” repeating the same falsehoods.
The couple’s U.S. legal team has vowed to present “scientific and documentary evidence” to debunk the conspiracy once and for all. The lawsuit reflects how digital misinformation transcends national borders, moving from fringe online circles in France to the polarized political landscape of the United States.
The Macron case is part of a broader global pattern where female public figures face targeted online abuse, often centered on their gender or personal lives.
Other prominent women, including former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, have similarly faced false online narratives questioning their identity, sexuality, or family background.
Experts say such attacks are designed to undermine women’s credibility and authority, weaponizing social media as a tool of humiliation and misinformation.
“This is not just a French issue; it’s a symptom of how digital platforms enable gender-based hate and conspiracy theories to thrive globally,” said a media ethics researcher at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.
France has strengthened its cyber-harassment laws in recent years, following several high-profile cases involving celebrities, journalists, and politicians. In 2023, the country introduced legislation making online defamation and coordinated harassment punishable by up to three years in prison when targeting public officials or their families.
The Macron trial is being closely watched as a test case for how the French judiciary handles politically charged online defamation — and as a signal that digital attacks against women in power will not go unpunished.
It remains unclear whether Brigitte Macron will attend the hearings in person. Her legal team declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the case.
As the trial begins, analysts say it highlights the urgent need for international cooperation in tackling cross-border misinformation and cyber-harassment.
The false narratives around Brigitte Macron — once confined to fringe conspiracy channels — have now evolved into a global case study on how misinformation, misogyny, and politics intersect in the digital age.
