Brigitte Macron's cyber-bullying trial explained

New York Post

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00:00The trial for 10 people accused of cyberbullying French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte Macron, began in Paris on Monday.

00:08Prosecutors allege the defendants made defamatory claims against Macron online, peddling conspiracy theories about her gender and sexuality,

00:17as well as describing the 24-year age gap between her and her husband as, quote, pedophilia.

00:24The criminal trial set to take place this week stems from a 2024 filing from Brigitte Macron,

00:30separate from the U.S.-based suit against right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, which was filed in July.

00:36The couple has been afflicted for years since Emmanuel Macron's presidential win in 2017

00:41by unsubstantiated conspiracy theories being spread online, claiming Brigitte is a transgender woman

00:48and who was initially born a man named Jean-Michel Tronyeau, which is the name of Brigitte's brother.

00:55Of the 10 people accused in France of online harassment against Brigitte,

00:58two women, self-described independent journalist Natasha Ray, and online fortune teller Amandine Roy,

01:06were originally sued by Brigitte and her brother in 2024.

01:10The duo were found guilty of slander against the French president's wife,

01:14but then appealed and were acquitted in July of this year.

01:17After the court ruled their comments did not constitute defamation,

01:21Brigitte and her brother have now taken their cases against the women to the country's highest appeals court.

01:26Among the other eight male defendants are an elected official, a teacher, a computer scientist,

01:31and a 41-year-old advertiser known by his online moniker, Zoe Sagan.

01:37They could face two years in prison if convicted.

01:41Across the Atlantic, conspiracy-spewing podcaster Candace Owens doubled down on her comments about the French First Lady in July,

01:47after she was slapped with a defamation lawsuit by the Macrones.

01:52You were born a man and you will die a man.

01:55That's the point I'm making.

01:57So give us a sample.

01:58I'll send my doctors to take your blood.

02:00Figure it out real quick.

02:02However you want to go about this.

02:03Hey, how about just giving us some pictures again of you growing up,

02:06you know, raising your children?

02:07That would be fine.

02:08In January, Owens ran an eight-part podcast series in which she made the wild claims about the couple,

02:14who met when Brigitte was the future French leader's schoolteacher in 1993.

02:19She was 39 and he was 15 at the time.

02:23I believe that Emmanuel Macron is a homosexual man that was groomed from his youth,

02:28Owens said in one of the episodes.

02:31I believe the individual who groomed him is now his wife.

02:33I believe his wife was born Jean-Michel Trugnot and transitioned in his early 30s.

02:39And I believe that the entire state is colluding to protect that secret, she said.

02:44Owens is no stranger to controversy.

02:47She has repeatedly courted outrage with anti-Semitic remarks,

02:50minimizing Hitler's ambitions as well as defending Kanye West's social media posts.

02:55She has also amplified a grab bag of conspiracy theories,

02:58such as questioning the moon landing and promoting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

03:03She has also been told and wrote a lot about the community,

03:08she has often heard a lot about the history of her own way of learning,

03:11and the history of her own way of learning,

03:12where the pressure he inspired me of learning,

03:14and her whole life has been brought to you all.

03:15She has a lot more than the people of the country and her image of her own way of learning,

03:19She is a lot more than the history of her own way of learning,

03:21and her own way of learning to stop her.

03:23And I believe that she has been a lot of investment in her way of learning,

03:26but the world of learning to compete with respect for other people at the same time.

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