Brigitte Macron’s cyberbully speaks out

A writer convicted of cyber-bullying the French president’s wife has told the Fame under Fire podcast he doesn’t regret it.

Bertrand Scholler posted an edited photo of Brigitte Macron in a swimming costume. Her head had been cut out and a man’s torso edited in.

He was one of 10 defendants in France accused of spreading false claims about Mrs Macron’s gender and sexuality as well as making “malicious remarks” about the 24 year age gap between her and her husband.

They were found guilty at a Paris court. Scholler was handed a suspended sentence of six months.

Speaking after his conviction, he said he was in “shock”, adding that the law which led to his conviction was a “nuclear bomb for freedom of speech”.

We also hear from the BBC’s Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield about the court case and what’s next for the Macrons.

Got questions? Send us a Whatsapp message on 0330 678 111 4.

Subscribe to Fame Under Fire on BBC Sounds and turn on push notifications so you never miss an episode. We’ll let you know as soon as new episodes are available.

Host: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty

Series Producer: Vicky Farncombe

Senior Impact Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross

Technical Producer: Mark Burrows

Editor: Clare Fordham

Assistant Commissioning Producer: Rechmial Miller

Commissioning Producer: Adam Eland

Assistant Commissioner: Will Drysdale

Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts