Bridgitte Macron row: French First Lady 'born a man' theories surface, Paris court acquits two 'conspiracy theorists'
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They were subjected to 'intimidation by the authorities' as 'ultra protected' members of the authority tried to cover up a 'state secret.'
Roy and Rey had appeared on a 4-hour-long YouTube video in December 2021, where they claimed that Brigitte was born a boy with the name Jean-Michel Trogneux. Brigitte Macron, 72, whose maiden name is Trogneux, has a brother called Jean-Michel.
The defendants also asserted that Brigitte's first husband, André-Louis Auzière, did not actually exist before his reported death in 2020 at age 68.
Macron had sued both women in January 2022 for defamation.
In September last year, a lower court ordered the two women to pay €8,000 in damages to Brigitte Macron and an additional €5,000 (around $5,500) to her brother, as reported by France 24.
Today's court ruling declared that the 18 passages from the video in question 'do not constitute defamation' but rather fall under 'good faith' free speech.
The defendants no longer have to pay anything and can instead reiterate their allegations against Macron.
Macron's lawyers informed that she was 'devastated' by the ruling and will now move to France's Cassation Court.
This comes amid Brigitte Macron finds herself under attack not just in France but across the world. A controversial book named 'Becoming Brigitte,' published by journalist Xavier Poussard, is becoming the breeding ground for conspiracy theories.
American commentator Candace Owens also posted on X, 'It was never defamation. It was a witch hunt. Legally speaking, the only proof Brigitte Macron is a woman is her word that she is. There is tons of proof however, that she lived as a man before 'becoming Brigitte'.'
The ruling came as four male defendants face a cyber-harassment trial at the Paris Correctional Court, accused of comparing Bridgitte Macron to a child abuser.
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'It was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the two-state solution process, that is today threatened, more threatened than it has ever been,' French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation. The idea of dividing the Holy Land goes back decades. When the British mandate over Palestine ended, the UN partition plan in 1947 envisioned dividing the territory into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the plan, but upon Israel's declaration of independence the following year, its Arab neighbours declared war and the plan was never implemented. Under a 1949 armistice, Jordan held control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Egypt over Gaza. Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war. 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The United States and Israel are the only countries boycotting. The co-chairs have circulated an outcome document which could be adopted, and there could be some announcements of intentions to recognise a Palestinian state. But with Israel and the United States boycotting, there is no prospect of a breakthrough and the resumption of long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on an end to their conflict. Secretary-General António Guterres urged participants after the meeting was announced 'to keep the two-state solution alive'. And he said the international community must not only support a solution where independent states of Palestine and Israel live side-by-side in peace but 'materialise the conditions to make it happen'.
