In a major legal reversal, a Paris court has acquitted French journalist Natacha Rey of defamation following her controversial statements suggesting that Brigitte Macron, wife of President Emmanuel Macron, was originally born male. The ruling was announced by Rey's lawyer, François Dangléhant.
Rey had previously been fined in connection with the case, but the appeals court overturned the conviction. Her legal team now plans to file a private lawsuit against both Brigitte Macron and her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux, accusing them of misleading the court.
“Victory for Natacha Rey against Brigitte and Jean-Michel Trogneux: the appellate court has cleared Rey, who now intends to initiate direct legal action against them for judicial fraud,” Dangléhant stated.
In February 2025, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the case, calling Rey's earlier conviction an example of how French journalists face pressure from authorities when raising uncomfortable questions.
Rey has also taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights, challenging the initial conviction that she has now successfully overturned in France.
The infamous gender case
In December 2021, a conspiracy theory emerged in France claiming that Brigitte Macron, the wife of President Emmanuel Macron, had been born male. The claim originated from a YouTube video featuring two French women, Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey, who alleged that Brigitte had assumed the identity of her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, through a gender transition. This baseless theory spread widely on social media and was amplified by far-right circles in France and abroad, coinciding with the lead-up to the 2022 presidential election.
Brigitte Macron responded by filing a defamation lawsuit. In September 2024, a Paris court found Roy and Rey guilty of slander and ordered them to pay €8,000 in damages to Brigitte and an additional €5,000 to her brother. Each woman also received a suspended fine of €500. President Macron addressed the matter publicly for the first time on International Women's Day in March 2024, denouncing the rumors as harmful fabrications that had deeply affected his family.
The case drew attention to a broader trend of disinformation campaigns targeting prominent women, often using gender-based conspiracies to undermine their public image. Figures such as Michelle Obama and Jacinda Ardern have faced similar baseless claims. Analysts noted that the rumor surrounding Brigitte Macron was not only a personal attack but also part of a larger pattern of online radicalization and gender-based harassment orchestrated by anti-elite and far-right groups.
