By Enyichukwu Enemanna
First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, has taken her case against two women who claimed she used to be a man to the highest appeals court, after it was dismissed at a lower court, her lawyer said on Monday.
Paris appeals court had on Thursday overturned earlier convictions against the two women for spreading false claims that went viral online, that Brigitte Macron, 72, used to be a man.
Disinformation about Macron’s gender has circulated on social media for years. Her 24-year age difference with her husband, President Emmanuel Macron, has also attracted considerable attention.
Brigitte Macron filed a libel complaint against the two women after they posted a YouTube video in December 2021, alleging she had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, who is actually Brigitte Macron’s brother.
In the video, defendant Amandine Roy, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium, interviewed Natacha Rey, a self-described independent journalist, for four hours on her YouTube channel.
Rey spoke about the “state lie” and “scam” she claimed to have uncovered that Jean-Michel Trogneux had changed gender to become Brigitte, and then married the future President.
The claim went viral, including among conspiracy theorists in the United States.
A lower court in September last year had ordered the two women to pay 8,000 euros ($9,400) in damages to Brigitte Macron, and 5,000 euros to her brother.
Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Ennochi, told AFP on Sunday that her brother, too, was taking his case against the dismissal of the charges to the highest appeals court, the Cour de Cassation.
