French President Emmanuel Macron furiously denies ‘false’ rumours wife Brigitte was born a man
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron has branded “false and fabricated” rumours that his wife was born a man.
Macron, 47, who wed Brigitte, 70, in 2007, said the transgender claims typified misogynistic online attacks on women.
The politician was just 15 when he started a relationship with the then mother-of-three, his French literature teacher.
Speaking on International Women’s Day on Friday, Mr Macron said: “The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios.
“People eventually believe them.”
Two women who claimed France’s First Lady was born a bloke were punished with “symbolic fines”, although these were reduced on appeal last June.
Witnesses called to court included Brigitte’s uncle Jean-Louis Auzière.
Auzière told the court: “I worked with Brigitte until the end of the 1980s, I can confirm to you that she is not a man.”
Transphobic rumours about Mrs Macron were seized upon in 2022, when the President was campaigning for re-election.
Details of the bizarre case were revived after Brigitte’s own daughter talked publicly about the accusations for the first time.
Tiphaine Auzière, 40, told Paris Match magazine: “I have concerns about the level of society when I hear what is circulating on social networks about my mother being a man.”