The trial against two women who made false claims that France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron is transgender, has begun.
In 2022, Brigitte Macron filed a complaint for libel against two women who posted a YouTube video in December 2021 alleging she had once been a man named “Jean-Michel”. The claim went viral just weeks before the 2022 presidential election.
Amandine Roy, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium, appeared in court in Paris on Wednesday to answer questions about the interview she conducted with Natacha Rey, an independent journalist who did not turn up citing illness.
Roy, 49, had interviewed Rey for four hours on her YouTube channel in which the journalist spoke about the “state lie” and “scam” that she claimed to have uncovered.
Rey was “desperate to share her work”, said Roy, who had merely “acquiesced to her request”.
As for the credibility of the claims, Roy insisted that Rey “had spent three years researching, it’s not like she pulled it out of her hat”. “My regret is that this wasn’t taken up and investigated by the mainstream media,” said Roy, who said she could not “hide” such a “serious” subject.
Neither the president, 46, nor the 71-year-old first lady were in court.
Messages multiplied on social media claiming that the first lady, formerly Brigitte Trogneux, had never existed and that her brother Jean-Michel had changed gender and assumed that identity.
The false claim also led to more serious accusations of child abuse brought against France’s first lady.
“The prejudice is massive, it exploded everywhere,” said Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Ennochi.
He demanded 10,000 euros ($10,750) in compensation for each of Brigitte Macron and her brother.
“Shrinking democratic space…”that’s what it’s called in Zambia