Two women guilty of false transgender claims against France's first lady

RFI

13 September 2024 at 3:28 am·1-min read

A court has ordered two women to pay €8,000 in damages to France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, after they falsely claimed she was a man.

In December 2021, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy broadcast unfounded rumours online alleging 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 on Thursday found Rey and Roy guilty of slander, ordering them to pay €8,000 in damages to the president’s wife, and €5,000 to Jean-Michel Trogneux.

The defendents were also given a suspended fine of €500.

Brigitte Macron, 71, had filed a libel complaint against the two women after their claim went viral, triggering conspiracy theories notably among the far right.

Macron did not attend the trial in June and was not present for the ruling.

Rey was ill during the trial, but did not manage to have it postponed.

France's Brigitte Macron to sue over claims she was born a man

Disinformation

Roy, an online fortune-teller, interviewed Rey, a self-described independent journalist, for four hours on her YouTube channel in December 2021.

The women discussed the unsubstantiated rumour that Brigitte Macron had undergone gender reassignment, with Rey claiming to have uncovered a “state lie” and “scam”.

'Massive' prejudice

(with newswires)

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Disinformation

'Massive' prejudice

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