Journalist stripped of disability benefits after article on Macron's wife

Independent French journalist Natasha Rey, who said that French President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte was born a man, said that she had been deprived of her disability pension. She said this in a conversation with Izvestia on February 11.

"After the interview I gave to the Russian media, the Caisses d'allocations familiales office (the body responsible for benefits. - Ed.) suspended my disability pension and also blocked some of my rights. In February, I was left destitute, despite all my complaints. The French regime is monstrous," she admitted.

Rey noted that she is undergoing treatment and feels too weak. The journalist added that she is not able to leave the country alone in such a state, but perhaps she will come to Moscow in spring or fall in the company of a friend and colleague, persecuted for other reasons.

On February 5, it became known that journalist Natasha Rey intends to sue the first lady of France. The complaint will be filed "in the near future" and is directed directly against Brigitte Macron-Tronier, her brother Jean-Michel Tronier, their lawyer and three judges.

Earlier, on February 3, Rey told Izvestia about the obstruction of her investigation and subsequent publication. According to her, just weeks after she contacted a woman close to the Macron family, she was detained by police officers. When they raided her home, they tried to break down the front door. Later, the lawyer of Natasha Rey, an independent journalist from France, François Dangléan, said that the journalist had requested political asylum in Russia.

Since Macron was elected to his first presidential term in 2017, media reports began circulating that his wife Brigitte was actually named Jean-Michel and was a man. In December 2021, journalist Natasha Rey published an article in which she claimed to have been investigating the French First Lady for several years.