French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have launched an alleged defamation lawsuit against US podcaster and right-wing political commentator Candace Owens.
The Macrons said in a complaint filed in Delaware Superior Court on July 23 that Owens has allegedly waged a lie-filled “campaign of global humiliation” to promote her podcast and expand her “frenzied” fan base.
The 219-page lawsuit also alleged that Owens monetised her allegedly defamatory claims about the Macrons.
In multiple online videos and in a book called Becoming Brigitte, Owens alleged that Brigitte Macron was born a man.
The book also contained unfounded allegations of pedophilia and incest against the Macron couple.
The Macrons’ lead counsel, Tom Clare, stated that multiple attempts to engage with Owens had been ignored.
“We have attempted to engage with her [Owens] for the last year, putting [alleged] evidence in front of her, request after request after request that she just simply do the right thing,” he told US media CNN.
Despite the legal action, Candace Owens has doubled down on social media.
“We need to get all perverts out of the office. Brigitte is just a start,” she alleged on July 24.
We need to get all perverts out of office.
Brigitte is just a start. https://t.co/fydnUTyU3q— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) July 24, 2025
She also advertised for her own videos. “For those who haven’t seen the Becoming Brigitte series, start here. It will take just one episode for you to realise the truth. It truly is a must-watch series,” she said
“The Macrons aren’t suing journalists halfway around the world because we lied,” she added.
On Instagram, she also mocked the President, saying: “I will be coming for this wig,” a reference to online jokes suggesting that Macron wore a hairpiece.
Owens was among several figures who have helped spread the allegations that Brigitte Macron was born male.
The allegation first emerged in France and was promoted by self-proclaimed investigative journalist Xavier Poussard, who now claimed to reside in Italy.
The Macrons have also filed a lawsuit against him for alleged cyber-harassment.
This summons is part of the alleged cyber-harassment proceedings launched in August 2024 against a dozen people by Brigitte Macron.
For years, Poussard has published articles and videos regarding her.
He gained wider attention and international fame when Owens cited his work as the foundation of her own allegations.
In September 2024, two women, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy, were convicted of defamation for spreading similar claims.
They were initially sentenced to suspended fines of €500 each and ordered to pay €8,000 in damages to Brigitte and €5,000 to her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux.
That verdict, though, was overturned this month, but the French First Lady has now brought the case to the highest appeal court.
Natacha Rey, who described herself as a freelance journalist, argued that the alleged discovery about Brigitte’s supposed real nature was a “State lie”.
Brigitte Macron is not the first public figure targeted by such conspiracy theories.
Former US first lady Michelle Obama was also falsely accused of being a man.
France’s first lady has taken her case against two women over claims she used to be a man to the highest appeals court after a lower court let them off, her lawyer has said. https://t.co/fJh7TnRFK4
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 14, 2025
