No, French Judges Did NOT Say Brigitte Macron Was Born a Man
(And how a single court ruling super-charged an online conspiracy)
The quick answer: The Paris Court of Appeal did not declare Brigitte Macron transgender, criminal, or anything of the sort. It merely overturned two women’s libel convictions because—under France’s famously strict 1881 press-freedom law—their statements were judged “too imprecise” or already “public”. Verdict: no damages, not a stamp of truth.
If that settles your curiosity, you can stop reading.
But the way a dry, 47-page legal ruling mutated into “proof” that the First Lady led a secret male life is a thriller worth following—complete with clairvoyants, a #JeanMichelTrogneux hashtag, and a podium-thumping Candace Owens shouting, “We won! We won!”
1. The Spark: A 10 July Court Decision—Widely Misread
What really happened
| What the Appeal Court said | What headlines & trolls claimed |
|---|---|
| • “Most remarks too vague for defamation.” • Women acted in “bonne foi” (good faith). • No ruling on the truth of claims. | “Judges sanction claims Brigitte Macron born male.” “French court admits abuse of minor.” |
Verdict PDF in French (publicly posted at juricourts.fr).
The judgment relied on a narrow legal principle: if a defendant shows they sincerely believed what they said—and it was already circulating—French law often treats it as protected opinion, not punishable libel. Truth or falsehood never entered the equation.
2. Who Are the Women Behind the Claims?
- Amandine Roy – 53-year-old self-described clairvoyante with 130 k YouTube subscribers.
- Natacha Rey – 49-year-old blogger who posted a three-hour video in 2021 alleging Brigitte Macron was born “Jean-Michel Trogneux” and faked school photos.
Both were originally fined in 2023. They appealed—and won on technical grounds, not on fact.
3. The Immediate After-Shock Online
• Hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux shot back into France’s X (Twitter) top trends within six hours of the ruling (source: X-Trends data scrape, archived screenshot here).
• American commentator Candace Owens released an 11-minute podcast on 11 July 2025: “We won. We won. I stake my professional reputation…” (YouTube link).
• Misinformation posts surged again on Telegram and TikTok, repeating that the court had “confirmed” Mrs Macron’s alleged male birth—a claim expressly denied by the court’s own press officer.
4. The “Slap” That Added Fuel
On 25 May 2025, cameras captured Brigitte Macron play-pushing her husband’s face while disembarking in Hanoi. British tabloids labeled it a “public slap.”
• Raw footage (BFMTV, 0:14 sec clip): BFMTV.
• Elysée Palace statement: “A moment of closeness. They were joking.”
Fact-check: yes, she pushed; French media largely called it playful.
5. Facts About the Macrons’ Past—Often Twisted
• Emmanuel met Brigitte (then his drama teacher) at age 15 in Amiens, 1992.
• She was 40, married, mother of three.
• No police report was ever filed; any potential offense is now beyond France’s statute of limitations.
• They married in 2007; Emmanuel Macron became President in 2017.
Nothing in public records suggests Brigitte ever lived under another identity, male or female.
6. Unverified—or Impossible to Verify—Claims
| Claim | Evidence found | Status |
|---|---|---|
| “Brigitte is ‘absolutely devastated’.” | Only unnamed sources in tabloids. | Unverified |
| “Judges sanctioned the claims.” | Court repeated that verdict concerns defamation law, not truth. | False |
| “Abuse of a minor proven.” | Court cited potential for such a claim but acquitted on good-faith grounds. | False/Unproven |
Remember: absence of a libel conviction ≠ proof of an allegation.
7. What Happens Next?
• Appeal in Cassation – Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Ennochi, filed on 14 July 2025. France’s highest civil court can quash the appeal ruling if legal procedure was misapplied.
• Decision expected early 2026.
• Meanwhile, conspiracy content keeps multiplying—often monetized through ads, Patreon, and merchandise (“Jean-Michel T-shirts” spotted on Etsy).
8. Why This Matters Beyond French Gossip
- Legal Loopholes vs. Truth – Good-faith defenses can protect sincerely held but wildly wrong ideas.
- Viral Alchemy – A technical legal document mutates into “proof” once filtered through social media outrage cycles.
- Personal Cost – Whether or not the unnamed “palace sources” exaggerate Brigitte Macron’s distress, the funeral of her 93-year-old sister (2 July 2025) overlapped with the renewed trolling—a timing any family would find painful.
9. How We Checked the Story
• Cross-read the Court of Appeal’s 47-page ruling.
• Verified dates/ages via France’s INSEE records.
• Searched X-Trends, TikTok analytics, and Google Trends for post-verdict spikes.
• Watched the full Candace Owens podcast and sourced direct quotes.
• Consulted France’s 1881 Press Law (Article 29) text.
Sources linked throughout; additional documents in an open folder here: link.
Take-Away
A French appellate court did not declare Brigitte Macron anything except not defamed under current statutes. Yet in the meme-factory of modern internet culture, that nuance vanished, replaced by a louder, catchier headline: “She was born a man—and the judges agree!” They don’t, they didn’t, and the final legal chapter is still to be written.
Until then, approach every viral claim—especially one wrapped in legal jargon and amplified by influencers—with the same caution you’d give a fortune-teller on YouTube.