Paris court convicts 10 over cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron; Owens doubles down

A Paris criminal court on Monday convicted 10 people for cyberbullying France's First Lady Brigitte Macron over claims that she is a man, Time reports. The American commentator Candace Owens, who faces an ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife over her claims that Brigitte is a man, responded on X by rejecting the rulings and repeating the allegation.

Owens wrote, "Once again these headlines are written in a way to deceive the public into believing that Brigitte proved she was a woman," and later called the First Lady "dangerous" and "psychopathic." She also said she will revive "Becoming Brigitte," the video and podcast series tied to the debunked conspiracy theory, later this year.

The court found many comments to be "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious," and presiding judge Thierry Donard described claims about the First Lady's "alleged pedophilia" as "malicious, degrading and insulting" and "intentionally harming the complainant." Eight defendants received suspended sentences of four to eight months, a ninth was sentenced to six months for not attending the hearing, three key instigators had social accounts suspended for six months, and all were ordered to take an online hate-speech course and to pay Brigitte Macron €10,000 for moral damages.

Key Topics

Politics, Brigitte Macron, Candace Owens, Emmanuel Macron, Paris Criminal Court, Cyberbullying