Brigitte Macron says first lady role exposed her to wickedness

In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Brigitte Macron reflected on the toll of being married to President Emmanuel Macron. She said that before, she had a normal life, children, a job, ups and downs, like everyone else. She added that these 10 years have passed so quickly and have been so intense, and that she has seen the darkness of the world, stupidity, wickedness. She also said it is sometimes difficult for her to see the blue sky and that she has moments of pessimism she did not have before.

The first lady has also been the target of a long-running conspiracy theory promoted by Candace Owens, who has accused her of being a transgender woman. According to reports, the claims originated from a December 2021 YouTube video in which Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey alleged that Brigitte Macron was born as a baby boy named Jean-Michel Trogneux in 1953. Jean-Michel Trogneux is actually the name of her brother; Brigitte Macron was known as Brigitte Trogneux before her first marriage. In 2024, Owens said she would stake her entire professional reputation on her belief that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man. The Macrons sued Owens in the US in 2025, alleging she had been spreading outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions.

Separately, in May 2025, Macron's office admitted that his wife Brigitte hit him during a row, after footage showed her appearing to push his face away as their plane touched down in Vietnam. The video was shot by the Associated Press in Hanoi. Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images before they were confirmed as genuine. According to Daily Mail, a close associate of the president described the incident as a couple's harmless squabble. An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it was a slap.