Brigitte Macron awarded €8,000 in damages after fake trans conspiracy theory

Two women have been ordered to pay France ’s first lady Brigitte Macron thousands of pounds in damages after falsely claiming she was transgender.

The two women falsely claimed in a December 2021 YouTube video that the French president’s wife had transitioned from living as a man - a claim which went viral and led to Ms Macron filing a libel claim.

Separate fake transphobic claims also spread on social media that Ms Macron had never existed, and that instead her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux had transitioned and assumed her identity.

A Paris court ordered Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey on Thursday to pay a total of €8,000 (£6,750) in damages to the president’s wife over the YouTube video, reported Agence France-Presse.

They must also pay €5,000 to her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux and were given a suspended fine of €500.

Ms Macron did not attend the trial or the ruling.

It came as she made a surprise cameo appearance in the hit Netflix series Emily in Paris on Thursday, playing herself.

The show's main actress, Lily Collins, who plays Emily Cooper, said that Ms Macron was "a big fan of the show".

“She was so kind and warm and welcoming and she was so enthusiastic about the show," Ms Collins said. "Having her on set was so fun... we had such a great time together."

She added: "It was an honour to do that with her."

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