France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron awarded damages over false transgender claim
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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron attending an Olympic gala dinner in July.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – A court on Sept 12 ordered two women to pay €8,000 (S$11,500) in damages to French First Lady Brigitte Macron after making false claims she was transgender, sparking online rumour-mongering by conspiracy theorists and the far right.
Mrs Macron filed a libel complaint
The claim went viral just weeks before the 2022 presidential election.
Posts spread on social media claiming that the First Lady, formerly Brigitte Trogneux, had never existed and that her brother Jean-Michel had changed gender and assumed that identity.
A Paris court sentenced the two defendants to pay a total of €8,000 in damages to Mrs Macron and €5,000 to her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux.
They were also handed a suspended fine of €500.
Mrs Macron, 71, did not attend the trial in June and was not present for the ruling.
Defendant Amandine Roy, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium, interviewed Ms Natacha Rey, a self-described independent journalist, for four hours on her YouTube channel.
Ms Rey spoke about the “state lie” and “scam” that she claimed to have uncovered.
The disinformation even spread to the US, where Mrs Macron was attacked in a now deleted YouTube video ahead of the November elections.
Ms Rey was ill during the trial but did not manage to have it postponed.
Former US first lady Michelle Obama, US Vice-President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris and New Zealand former premier Jacinda Ardern have also been the targets of disinformation about their gender or sexuality in a bid to mock or humiliate them.
Also on Sept 12, Mrs Macron made her Netflix debut playing herself in the hit series Emily In Paris.
The show’s star Lily Collins told Elle magazine the idea came to her and programme creator Darren Star when they met the first lady at the Elysee Palace in December 2022. AFP
French First Lady Brigitte Macron (centre) with Emily In Paris stars Lily Collins (left) and Thalia Besson.
PHOTO: AFP
