False information about Brigitte Macron: the First Lady appeals to the Court of Cassation after the acquittal of two women

The two defendants, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy, were sued for defamation for comments made about Brigitte Macron, accusing her of having invented her first marriage, of having retouched photos of her and of having lied about her marital status.

Brigitte Macron is filing an appeal to challenge the acquittal on appeal of two women who spread the rumor online that the First Lady was transgender, franceinfo learned from her lawyer Jean Ennochi on Monday, July 14. They claim, in particular, that Brigitte Macron is in fact her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, who is also a civil party in the case.

The two defendants, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy, were sued for defamation for 18 comments they made about Brigitte Macron, accusing her of fabricating her first marriage, retouching photos of her, and lying about her marital status. They were found guilty of defamation at first instance last September and sentenced to a suspended fine of €500 and ordered to pay a total of €8,000 in damages to Brigitte Macron and €5,000 to her brother.

But on Thursday, July 10, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the majority of these comments did not fall within the legal definition of defamation, except for one element: the appeals court believes that the two women did indeed defame the First Lady by accusing her of corrupting Emmanuel Macron, referring to his age when they first met, when she was a teacher and he was a student. However, the appeals court acquitted them because it found that the two women were acting in good faith when they made these comments.