PARIS: The daughter of Brigitte Macron is to testify on Tuesday, the second day of the trial of 10 people accused of cyber-harassing the French first lady over unsubstantiated gender claims.
The trial comes after President Emmanuel Macron and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in connection with a false claim amplified and repeated online that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth.
The claim has long targeted the presidential couple, alongside criticism of their quarter-century age gap.
The first lady, 72, has not attended the Paris trial of 10 defendants – eight men and two women, aged 41 to 65 – accused of harassing her online, who if convicted face up to two years in prison.
Brigitte Macron told investigators the rumor had greatly impacted her and her family, especially her grandchildren who were told their grandmother was a man.
The first lady’s lawyer had asked her daughter Tiphaine Auziere to testify.
The French first lady filed a complaint in August 2024 that led to an investigation into cyber-harassment and arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.
Among the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known on social media as “Zoe Sagan” and often linked with conspiracy theory circles, who claimed on the sidelines of the trial on Monday that he was the one being harassed.
He was also to speak on Tuesday.
Jerome C. 55, told the court he was exercising his right to “freedom of speech” and “satire” when he posted or re-posted on social media.
Bertrand S., 56, had on Sunday said the trial was targeting his “freedom to think” faced with the “media deep state.”
Previous case
The defendants also include a woman already the subject of a libel complaint filed by Brigitte Macron in 2022: Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.
In 2021, she posted a four-hour interview with self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey on her YouTube channel, alleging Brigitte Macron, whose maiden name is Trogneux, had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her brother.
The two women were ordered to pay damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother in 2024 before the conviction was overturned on appeal. The first lady has since taken the case to the country’s highest appeals court.
Delphine J. refused to speak to the court on Monday, saying she had already spoken at length on the matter.
Emerging as early as Emmanuel Macron’s election in 2017, the claims have been amplified by far-right and conspiracy theorist circles in France, and in the United States, where transgender rights have become a hot-button issue at the heart of American culture wars.
The presidential couple filed a US defamation lawsuit in July against conservative podcaster Candace Owens, who produced a series titled “Becoming Brigitte,” claiming she was born a man.
The couple are planning to offer “scientific” evidence and photos proving that the first lady is not transgender, according to their US lawyer.
Several of those on trial in Paris shared posts from the US influencer.