Brigitte Macron vs the conspiracy theorists
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Eight years ago, French bloggers began to claim the President’s wife, Brigitte Macron, was born a man. As the false allegations spread internationally, the Macrons decided to take legal action. Yesterday, ten people appeared in a Paris court charged with cyberbullying and in the US, the right wing influencer Candace Owens faces a defamation suit. So where did this come from? And in a world of fake news, is there value in fighting for the truth?
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Guest: Charles Bremner, Paris contributor, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Olivia Case and Micalea Arneson.
Clips: De de / YouTube, NBC, CNN, France24, Engineering Science, Theo Von Clips, Candace Owens / YouTube, Daily Wire Plus, BFMTV.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:12.0 | Two centuries ago, in Paris, bringing down the queen involved a very public execution. |
| 0:21.3 | Now, it's more likely to be a jeering mob of cyber bullies |
| 0:25.2 | attacking the first lady Brigitte Macron online. |
| 0:32.1 | We're told that Bridget is a petite woman, a skinny, petite woman, but she doesn't have |
| 0:43.1 | the characteristics of a petite woman in her skeleton. |
| 0:49.0 | From the moment her husband came to power, false rumors have swirled around Bridget Macron and her sex online. |
| 0:58.0 | Those rumors took on a life of their own as they went global. |
| 1:02.4 | I would stake my entire professional career on the fact that Brigitte Macron, the current First Lady of France, was born a man. |
| 1:12.1 | But now, the Macron's are fighting back. |
| 1:16.2 | French President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte, are suing right-wing podcaster and |
| 1:21.7 | conspiracy theorist Candice Owens. |
| 1:23.9 | In France, ten people are standing trial for online harassment of the French First Lady. |
| 1:29.9 | The latest trial started yesterday in Paris. What political impact have these rumors and the court |
| 1:37.6 | cases had on President Macron? And in this very modern political parable, in a world of fake news, is it worth fighting for the truth? |
| 2:08.1 | The story today, how Brigitte Macron's sex became a matter for court. |
| 2:22.5 | Charles, we're talking on Monday. Just tell us what's happening in a court in Paris today. What is the big story? |
| 2:36.0 | There are ten people on trial, eight men and two women. As a result of President Macron, his wife, Brigitte's campaign to stop a wild internet story that Mrs Macron, |
| 2:39.2 | Brigitte Macron, is in fact a man or was born a man. |
| 2:43.3 | That's Charles Bremener, who writes for the Times from Paris, |
| 2:47.2 | a city he's been reporting on for 25 years. They've taken legal proceedings all over the place in France |
| 2:50.4 | and more recently in the United |
... |
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