Brigitte Macron Appeals to Highest Court After Conspiracy Theorists Acquitted in Transgender Smear Case
France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, is taking her defamation case to the Cour de Cassation (France’s highest court of appeal) after two women who propagated a bizarre transgender conspiracy theory targeting her were acquitted on appeal.
Amandine Roy, who identifies as a medium, and Natacha Rey, who described herself as a “self-taught independent journalist,” were sued by Mrs. Macron for defamation over claims made in a 2021 YouTube video. The four-hour video alleged a massive “state lie” concerning the First Lady’s birth sex.
In their baseless theory, Roy and Rey claimed Brigitte Macron never actually existed. They asserted that her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, had undergone sex reassignment surgery and assumed her identity – presenting this fabrication as a hidden truth deliberately concealed by the state.
A lower court had originally found Roy and Rey guilty of defamation. However, an appeals court recently overturned that conviction, clearing the women. Dissatisfied with this appellate decision, Brigitte Macron has now lodged an appeal with the Cour de Cassation, seeking to have the acquittal reviewed and potentially overturned.