Bridgitte Macron row: French First Lady 'born a man' theories surface, Paris court acquits two 'conspiracy theorists'

Two women who were previously convicted of defaming French First Lady Brigitte Macron by claiming she was “born a man” have been found not guilty on appeal. Amandine Roy, 53, and Natacha Rey, 49, a blogger, were cleared of the charges as the judges of the Paris Appeal Court on Thursday ruled that they had every right to make those allegations, as reported by the Daily Mail. They were subjected to “intimidation by the authorities” as “ultra protected” members of the authority tried to cover up a “state secret.”Roy and Rey had appeared on a 4-hour-long YouTube video in December 2021, where they claimed that Brigitte was born a boy with the name Jean-Michel Trogneux. Brigitte Macron, 72, whose maiden name is Trogneux, has a brother called Jean-Michel. The defendants also asserted that Brigitte’s first husband, André-Louis Auzière, did not actually exist before his reported death in 2020 at age 68.Macron had sued both women in January 2022 for defamation. In September last year, a lower court ordered the two women to pay €8,000 in damages to Brigitte Macron and an additional €5,000 (around $5,500) to her brother, as reported by France 24.Today’s court ruling declared that the 18 passages from the video in question “do not constitute defamation” but rather fall under “good faith” free speech.The defendants no longer have to pay anything and can instead reiterate their allegations against Macron. Macron’s lawyers informed that she was “devastated” by the ruling and will now move to France’s Cassation Court. This comes amid Brigitte Macron finds herself under attack not just in France but across the world. A controversial book named “Becoming Brigitte,” published by journalist Xavier Poussard, is becoming the breeding ground for conspiracy theories. American commentator Candace Owens also posted on X, “It was never defamation. It was a witch hunt. Legally speaking, the only proof Brigitte Macron is a woman is her word that she is. There is tons of proof however, that she lived as a man before “becoming Brigitte”.”The ruling came as four male defendants face a cyber-harassment trial at the Paris Correctional Court, accused of comparing Bridgitte Macron to a child abuser.