27.10.2025
French First Lady Brigitte Macron has faced relentless rumours about her gender and hackers aggravated her pain by changing her gender to male on France’s official tax portal.
The First Lady and her husband Emmanuel Macron were shocked to find out during routine audit of Brigitte Macron’s tax records in September of last year, her name was found to be listed as “Jean-Michel, called Brigitte Macron.”
Tristan Bohn, chief of staff to the first lady, told the BFMTV documentary The Red Line: “We were all shocked when we saw the name. We double-checked with Brigitte Macron herself, and it was indeed marked that way in her personal identification information.”
Brigitte Macron filed a complaint, and the Élysée Palace immediately launched an investigation. Authorities reportedly identified two suspects in connection with the data manipulation.
The claims spread to the U.S. via far-right commentator Candace Owens. The Macron couple filed a defamation lawsuit against Owens in July, announcing plans to present scientific evidence to prove Brigitte Macron was born female.
Meanwhile the Paris prosecutor’s office said the eight men and two women are accused of spreading “numerous malicious comments” online about the first lady’s gender and “sexuality” and of mentioning her age gap with her husband as “paedophilia.”
Aged between 41 and 60, some of the defendants are very active on the social media, with posts sometimes cumulating dozens of thousands of views. A woman presenting herself as a medium and an advertising executive, whose X account has since been suspended, are considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor.
Others include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist.
Mr. and Mrs. Macron...not a smiling matter