I don't pay too much attention to these things, but I was hanging around my brother -- who is significantly less couth than I -- and heard him talking about this "Macron's wife is a man" thing. Seems like there is going to be some clarity around the issue...
The story is becoming increasingly bizarre and has entangled its protagonists in a painful transition to settle years of controversy. Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, a few weeks ago sued an American influencer who claimed the French president’s wife was a man. They announced at the time that they were prepared to go to any lengths to prove it was defamation. The British broadcaster BBC has now announced that both plan to present photographic and scientific evidence to dispel this claim, which has been dragging on for years.
Photographic and scientific evidence, I tell you!
Among the main claims made by Owens, known for her support for Donald Trump and transphobic remarks, was that Brigitte Macron was born a man, under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux (which is actually her brother’s name). Furthermore, the influencer has claimed that the president and first lady are blood relatives and that Macron is the product of a CIA human experiment or a “government mind-control program.” A leap forward, so to speak, compared to previous conspiracy theories.
Well, that sounds reasonable. I do have a few questions though: is the being born a man thing connected to the being related to Macron thing, or are those separate issues? I think they are separate.
Speaking to the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, Thomas Clare, the Macrons’ lawyer in the case, explained that both scientific and photographic evidence will be provided. This includes images of Brigitte Macron during her pregnancy and while raising her children, which will be presented under U.S. judicial rules. If the lawsuit is successful, the couple would also have to travel to the U.S. to testify in a jury trial. The case, however, originated on the other side of the Atlantic.
This "photographic evidence" is much less salacious than I thought it would be.
The story began in 2021 on a YouTube channel dedicated to clairvoyance. Amandine Roy, a supposed medium who mixed esotericism with anti-government rants, one day conducted a telephone interview with a woman calling herself Natasha Rey, who claimed to be a journalist. The mysterious figure (wearing a hat and sunglasses) had spent years on a supposed investigation that culminated in the hoax that has since spread. Brigitte Macron was, in fact, her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux. She died very young, Rey claimed, and he supposedly changed sex and assumed his sister’s identity.The interview, which ran for more than two hours, unraveled other delirious details about the children of the president’s wife and Macron himself. Both women shared photos of Brigitte Macron and her family, talked about surgeries she allegedly underwent, claimed she was not the mother of the couple’s three children, and divulged personal information about her brother. Unexpectedly, it became a viral hit and a trending topic on social media, where it took on a life of its own through accounts linked to the far right.
The French are so cool!