Trial begins against 10 accused of sexist cyberbullying of the president’s wife

Ten people accused of sexist cyberbullying against French President Brigitte Macron’s wife are due to go on trial this week in Paris.

The defendants are accused of spreading unsubstantiated claims about her gender and sexuality, as well as making “malicious remarks” about the 24-year age difference between Brigitte and her husband Emmanuel Macron.

If convicted, the defendants could face up to two years in prison.

An elected official, a gallery owner and a teacher are among the ten people due to appear in court on Monday and Tuesday, according to French media.

Two of them – self-proclaimed freelance journalist Natasha Ray and internet fortune teller Amandine Roy – were found guilty of libel last year for claiming that France’s first lady never existed and that her brother Jean-Michel Trogno had changed gender and started using her name.

But an appeals court later acquitted Ray and Roy on the grounds that their statements did not constitute defamation. Ms Macron and her brother are appealing the decision.

A conspiracy theory centered around the idea that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been swirling since her husband won a first term in office in 2017.

Unsubstantiated claims about Ms Macron’s gender are gaining traction in the US, popularized most notably by right-wing influencer Candice Owens.

Last July, the Macron family filed a lawsuit against Owens, claiming she “ignored all credible evidence refuting her claim in favor of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven detractors.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, Macron’s lawyer in the case, Tom Clare, said Brigitte Macron found the allegations “incredibly upsetting” and they were a “distraction” for the French president.

“It’s extremely upsetting to think that you have to go and undergo, present that kind of evidence,” he said.

Emmanuel Macron said pursuing legal action against Owens was to “protect his honor” and that the influencer had spread false information “with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established links to far-right leaders”.

Ms Macron first met her now husband when she was a teacher at his secondary school.

The couple married in 2007, when Mr Macron was 29 and Ms Macron was 54.