Macron has broken his silence over malicious rumours about his wife (Picture: Shutterstock)
French President Emmanuel Macron has broken his silence over malicious rumours his wife was born a man, claiming such allegations were ‘false and fabricated’.
Speaking at an International Women’s Day event on Friday, Macron expressed anger and frustration about continual speculation about Brigitte Macron, 70, whom he married in 2007.
‘The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios,’ he said. ‘People eventually believe them and disturb you, even in your intimacy.’
The French president said the rumours were typical of the everyday misogyny women deal with online (Picture: EPA)
Attacks on his wife were typical of the misogyny women have to deal with every day online, he added.
Rumours about Ms Macron first emerged in 2021, originating on a far-right website in September before being circulated by conspiracy theorists.
The source of the rumours were later traced back to two women- Amandine Roy, a 52-year-old clairvoyant, and Natacha Rey, 48, who claimed to be a freelance journalist.
Both had appeared on a four-hour YouTube video in December 2021 in which they claimed that Brigitte was in fact born as a baby boy called Jean-Michel Trogneux in 1953.
However, this is actually the name of Brigitte’s brother, and Ms Macron was called Brigitte Trogneux before her first marriage.
The pair also claimed that Brigitte’s first husband, André-Louis Auzière, had never actually existed before his reported death in 2020, aged 68.
Ms Macron later sued the two women for libel, and they were punished with ‘symbolic fines’ reduced on appeal last June.
Ms Macron sued her accusers for defamation in 2022 (Picture: Getty)
The defendants later claimed they were subjected to ‘intimidation by the authorities’ as ‘ultra protected’ members of the Paris establishment tried to cover up a ‘state secret’.
Initially, a judge in Lisieux, Normandy, fined both women around £1,700 each- However, Roy’s fine was later reduced to approximately £850 following appeal, and Rey had £1,300 of her £1700 fine suspended, resulting in her having to pay only £400.
The original complaint against Ray and Roy was for invasion of private life, violation of image rights and infringement of personality rights,’ but the final case was for defamation.
Frédéric Pichon, Rey’s defence barrister, said her investigation about Ms Macron had been ‘carried out in good faith’ and in line with Article 10 of the European Court of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression.
He expressed outrage that his client was ‘placed in police custody twice during the case’, saying: ‘I am shocked by the disproportionate means deployed by the authorities to silence her.’
The transphobic rumours about Mrs Macron were picked up by the far-right in 2022, while the President was campaigning for re-election.
Groups including the Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes) and those protesting against Covid vaccines all used the claims to attack Mr Macron.
More Trending
The video produced by Rey and Roy has since been removed from YouTube.
Details of the bizarre case were later recently revived after Ms Macron’s own daughter talked publicly about the accusations for the first time.
Speaking to Paris Match magazine, Tiphaine Auzière, 40, said: ‘I have concerns about the level of society when I hear what is circulating on social networks about my mother being a man.’
Ms Auzière also discussed how wounded she remained after discovering as a 10-year-old child that her teacher mother was seeing the teenage Emmanuel Macron.
The future politician was just 15 when he began a relationship with the then married mother-of-three Brigitte Auzière, who was 40 at the time, and teaching drama at La Providence high school in Amiens, northern France.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.