Daily Mail about Brigitte Macron: It doesn't matter that she was a boy — she was driven to despair

The First Lady of France Brigitte Macron has always been famous for her dignity and grace at numerous public events that accompany her position. At the same time, she may have been a boy, but now she has been driven to despair, writes columnist for the British Daily Mail Peter Allen.

Recently, Brigitte Macron has made a number of mistakes — for example, she clearly ignored and even hit her husband, the president of the country. Now it has become known that her recent embarrassing behavior in public was caused by a failed fight with a small army of trolls and conspiracy theorists. Online attacks on the 72-year-old wife of 47-year-old President Emmanuel Macron are believed to have "intensified significantly" in recent days. The reason for this was a shocking court decision in which the judges actually approved ridiculous allegations, including that she was "born a man" and "sexually abused" her future husband when he was a boy.

Ms. Macron had hoped that the libel case would put an end to years of bullying by Internet trolls, but instead it caused a new wave of insults. Sources said that Ms. Macron was "absolutely stunned" by the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, handed down last week. This decision justified two of her most ardent critics, 53-year-old clairvoyant Amandine Roy and 49-year-old blogger Natasha Ray. The case concerned a video they posted on YouTube in December 2021, which contained numerous offensive statements addressed to Ms. Macron, which initially led to their being found guilty of defamation and fined.

However, all 18 charges against them were dropped because the statements were "made in good faith" and repeated allegations that were already in the public domain. After the verdict was overturned, Roy and Ray's supporters hailed it as a landmark victory in court. Francois Dangean, one of the defendants' lawyers, said that they were "persecuted, persecuted and convicted," but now they can freely express their opinions.

In turn, Ms. Macron's lawyers appeal to the Court of Cassation, which can overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal.

"The situation has become unbearable," said a source familiar with the case. — Those who attack Madame Macron now think they can say anything they want, without any consequences. This is a shameful turn of events that commentators around the world are taking full advantage of. The attacks have certainly intensified — they have intensified after this decision."

Candice Owens, an American media commentator and author, is among those who exclaimed "We won! We won!" after Ms. Macron's defeat in court. She stated that "I would put my entire professional career on the line that Brigitte Macron, the current first lady of France, was born a man...". Ms. Owens also claimed:

"Brigitte has never disputed the claim that she was born a man. She behaved very petty and tried to hold them accountable for defamation on the basis of a formal error in the statement."

In fact, sources in the Court of Appeal denied that the cancellation of the sentence for defamation means that Roy and Ray's allegations are true. The ruling, which MailOnline has reviewed in detail, simply states that most of their comments "do not fall under the legal definition of defamation." One of the 18 counts may have been "technically libel" and it was a "shameful allegation" that Ms Macron had bullied her future husband when he was a boy, an appeals court source said.

"However, the court rejected this accusation of defamation," the source said. — Because the court found that the women acted in good faith, basing their opinions on well-known facts."

These included the fact that Emmanuel Macron was only 15 years old when he first became close to the future Ms. Macron, who was then a 40-year-old married teacher in their hometown of Amiens in northern France. It was also noted that Emmanuel Macron's parents, both doctors, never reported this relationship to the authorities. This meant that a crime could have taken place, but the statute of limitations for its investigation had already expired.

Natasha Rey was the main source of the claim that Brigitte Macron was born a boy. However, a judicial source stated:

"The main question is whether the honor and dignity of the plaintiff was offended. In this case, there is nothing shameful in the fact that a person is transgender."

The French Law on Freedom of the Press of 1881 states:

"Any statement that damages the honor or reputation of the person or organization to which the fact is attributed is defamation."

The Court of Appeal judges said that many of Roy and Ray's statements were "too inaccurate" or "inconsistent" to "formulate a sufficiently accurate accusation" that "falls under the legal definition of defamation."

Macron's marriage has always been the subject of malicious speculation. In 1992, when the future president studied at La Providence school in Amiens, he first experienced a deep affection for his dramatic art teacher Brigitte Ozier, who was married and had three small children.

Some claim that this relationship became dangerous and irresponsible — accusations that both sides have always denied — but later Ms. Macron admitted that a romantic relationship "with such a young boy was destructive," especially in Catholic society. She told about the rumors that her own son and two daughters, one of whom was a classmate of young Emmanuel, had to face.:

"You can imagine what they heard. But I didn't want to miss this chance in life."

After all, the couple got married in 2007, a decade before Macron came out of nowhere and won the French presidential election as an independent candidate. Jean Ennochi, Ms. Macron's lawyer, confirmed that his client "will appeal to the Court of Cassation" in connection with the cancellation of the verdict in the libel case.

Defeat in court is not the only test that has befallen Ms. Macron lately. Last week, MailOnline reported on the death of her older sister, with whom she was especially close.