Overview
- Ten defendants — eight men and two women aged 41 to 60 — are on trial in Paris for alleged sexist cyberharassment, an offense punishable by up to two years in prison and fines.
- Brigitte Macron did not attend, while her daughter Tiphaine Auzière told the court the sustained online attacks have hurt her mother's health and forced her to constantly monitor her public appearance.
- Prosecutors cite posts that questioned Macron's sex and sexuality and linked the couple's 24‑year age gap to pedophilia, tracing the narrative to YouTube content by “Amandine Roy” and “Natacha Rey.”
- Several defendants denied wrongdoing and invoked satire or free‑speech defenses, including author Aurélien Poirson‑Atlan (“Zoé Sagan”) and an IT worker who said he merely shared content.
- The proceedings follow a July appeals decision that rejected a defamation route and run alongside the Macrons' U.S. lawsuit against influencer Candace Owens, whose series amplified the claims, with their lawyer saying Brigitte Macron will present scientific evidence of her sex.