Eight men and two women are on trial starting today, Monday, before the Criminal Court of Paris, accused of sexist online bullying against the wife of the president of the French Republic, Brigitte Macron.

The cyberbullying investigation was handed over to the French police Directorate for the Suppression of Crimes against Humanity following a complaint filed by Brigitte Macron on August 27, 2024, which led to successive waves of arrests, mainly in December 2024 and February 2025. Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Enossy, did not confirm if the First Lady of France would be present at the hearing.

This trial follows a defamation lawsuit filed by the French presidential couple in the US in late July against far-right podcaster Candace Owens, regarding the “fake news” that went “viral” about the “transsexuality” of Emmanuel Macron’s wife.

The defendants

The defendants in France, among whom is one advertiser, an elected official, a gallerist, a teacher, a psychic, a computer scientist etc. are aged from 41 to 60 years.

Among them is an advertiser known on social media by the pseudonym “Zoé Sagan” whose X account has been suspended and who promotes conspiracy theories.

In addition to comments targeting Brigitte Macron, calling her age difference with her husband “pedophile”, he is known for sharing on social media sex videos of Benjamin Griveaux, a one-time friend close to Macron, who in February 2020 withdrew as a candidate for mayor of Paris after the scandal.

Also the psychic with the pseudonym “Amandine Roy” is accused of being instrumental in spreading the rumor that Brigitte Macron, née Tronier, was actually a trans woman with the birth name of her brother, Jean-Michel.

The advertiser and psychic were ordered to pay several thousand euros in damages to Brigitte Macron and 5,000 euros to her brother Jean-Michel Tronier in September 2024, but were later acquitted on appeal on July 10, 2025.

Brigitte Macron and her brother have appealed this decision to France’s Court of Cassation.