French researcher Natacha Rey, whose investigations into Brigitte Macron became the starting point of a major international media and legal controversy, died on September 13, 2026, in Saintes, France, at the age of 56. Her work, initially conducted largely outside the mainstream media, eventually became the subject of proceedings in France and attracted international attention through American commentator Candace Owens.
Natacha Rey, born on June 6, 1970, in Enghien, France, died in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, after several years of illness, according to Le Média en 4-4-2, which reported her death and the arrangements for her funeral.
A mass was scheduled for Thursday, September 18, at 2:30 p.m. at Saint-Pallais Church in Saintes, followed by her burial in the local cemetery, according to the same publication.
Her death brings to an end four years during which her name became closely associated with one of France’s most controversial political and media stories. At the same time, she was fighting an advanced cancer that she had discussed publicly in the final years of her life.
From independent research to a national controversy
According to Le Média en 4-4-2, questions and rumors concerning Brigitte Macron’s biography had circulated online before Natacha Rey became involved. Rey nevertheless played a significant role in giving those claims a more structured form and bringing them to a much wider audience.
Presenting herself as an independent investigator, Rey spent years examining genealogical records concerning the Trogneux family, family photographs, published biographies and accounts relating to Brigitte Macron’s youth.
In the spring of 2021, she established contact with Xavier Poussard, then associated with Faits & Documents. Poussard incorporated some of her research into his publications concerning what he described as the « Brigitte Macron mystery. »
The controversy reached a new level on December 10, 2021, when Rey appeared for more than four hours on a program hosted by Amandine Roy. During the interview, Rey presented a series of claims concerning Brigitte Macron’s identity and biography, including the highly controversial allegation that Brigitte Macron and her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux were in fact the same person.
Those allegations have been strongly disputed and were at the center of subsequent legal proceedings.
The 2021 video nevertheless attracted substantial attention online. The name Jean-Michel Trogneux subsequently became widely circulated on social media, ensuring that the controversy surrounding Brigitte Macron’s biography would remain in the public debate.
From the internet to the courts
The dispute eventually moved from social media and independent publications into the French courts.
Brigitte Macron and Jean-Michel Trogneux brought defamation proceedings against Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy. According to Le Média en 4-4-2, the two women were convicted at first instance in September 2024 and received suspended fines of €500, in addition to damages.
By that point, Rey was already seriously ill.
Several months earlier, she had publicly referred to her advanced cancer and the poor prognosis she had received. Le Média en 4-4-2 reports that she had described her illness in particularly stark terms, explaining that she believed her medical condition had already placed her in a life-threatening situation.
Rey appealed the judgment.
On July 10, 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal acquitted Rey and Roy in relation to the statements at issue, according to the account published by Le Média en 4-4-2. The court’s decision concerned the legal characterization of the statements prosecuted as defamation. For several of the allegations, the court concluded that they did not legally meet the definition of defamation; regarding a passage involving an alleged sexual offense against a minor, the court accepted the defense of good faith.
The case did not end there. Brigitte Macron, Jean-Michel Trogneux and the prosecution subsequently appealed to France’s Court of Cassation.
A battle fought alongside cancer
While the legal proceedings continued, Rey’s health deteriorated.
According to Le Média en 4-4-2, she spoke publicly about metastatic cancer, a late diagnosis, severe pain and difficulties surrounding some aspects of her treatment. She also explained that she had declined chemotherapy because of concerns about its potential side effects.
Her illness increasingly became part of the story surrounding her legal battle. Friends and supporters described the combination of legal pressure, media attention and serious illness as an extraordinarily difficult period.
Rey herself frequently connected the two struggles when discussing the final years of her life.
Her public appearances increasingly took place against the backdrop of a disease she knew was serious and whose progression she openly discussed.
From Xavier Poussard to Candace Owens
The controversy did not remain confined to France.
Xavier Poussard continued his own investigations through Faits & Documents and subsequently published the book Devenir Brigitte. The story then reached a much larger international audience when American commentator Candace Owens took an interest in the controversy in 2024.
Owens interviewed Poussard and produced an extensive series of programs devoted to the allegations surrounding Brigitte Macron. According to Le Média en 4-4-2, material originating from the French investigations was subsequently presented to an American audience numbering in the millions.
The dispute consequently crossed the Atlantic.
In 2025, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron initiated defamation proceedings against Candace Owens in the United States, adding another legal dimension to a controversy that had begun with online investigations in France.
The internationalization of the story transformed what had initially been a relatively obscure internet controversy into a dispute involving French and American media, public figures and courts.
Candace Owens pays tribute to Rey
Following the announcement of Rey’s death, Candace Owens paid tribute to her and highlighted the role played by Rey’s original research in the international development of the controversy.
Xavier Poussard also announced Rey’s death, expressing his « immense sadness, » according to Le Média en 4-4-2.
Whatever one’s view of the allegations and conclusions that emerged from the controversy, Rey’s role in its early development is an established part of the chronology described by the publication.
Her research, initially conducted largely on her own, was subsequently taken up by other investigators, independent media outlets and eventually international personalities.
A controversial legacy
Natacha Rey spent the final years of her life publicly defending the conclusions she had reached through her research. Her work exposed her to intense media attention and prolonged legal proceedings while she was simultaneously confronting a serious illness.
Le Média en 4-4-2 emphasizes that she remained publicly committed to her position despite the considerable deterioration of her health.
The broader controversy remains highly contested. The allegations concerning Brigitte Macron have been disputed, while the legal proceedings have focused on whether particular statements met the legal definition of defamation and, in some instances, whether the defense of good faith applied.
Rey’s death therefore comes before the complete legal and public resolution of a controversy that she helped bring into the spotlight in 2021.
At 56, Natacha Rey leaves behind a story that began with independent research, moved into the French courts and eventually crossed the Atlantic. Four years after the publication of the 2021 interview that transformed the scale of the controversy, her name remains inseparable from one of the most internationally discussed disputes surrounding the French presidency.
Source: Le Média en 4-4-2.
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