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PARIS<\/strong> \u2013 French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit in the U.S. state of Delaware against prominent right-wing podcaster and influencer Candace Owens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawsuit centers on Owens’ repeated and widely disseminated claims that Brigitte Macron was born male and has been living under a false identity. PARIS \u2013 French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit in the U.S. state of Delaware against prominent right-wing podcaster and influencer Candace Owens. The lawsuit centers on Owens’ repeated and widely disseminated claims that Brigitte Macron was born male and has been living under a false identity.The 219-page…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"yoast_head":"\n
The 219-page complaint, filed on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, alleges that Owens has waged a “campaign of global humiliation” against the Macrons, spreading “verifiably false and devastating lies” to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and generate income. Among the central allegations is Owens’ assertion that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux \u2013 the actual name of Brigitte’s older brother \u2013 and later transitioned to female, even stealing another person’s identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Macrons, through their lawyers, stated they decided to pursue legal action after Owens repeatedly ignored requests to retract her false and defamatory statements, particularly those made in an eight-part YouTube and podcast series titled “Becoming Brigitte.” The lawsuit contends that Owens’ actions were driven by a “reckless disregard for the truth” and a desire to “inflame and attract attention through sensationalism and conspiracy theories.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a rare instance of a serving world leader and their spouse filing a lawsuit against an individual in another country for defamation. The complaint includes evidence such as family photos and birth announcements to refute Owens’ claims and highlights the “tremendous damage” the lies have caused to the Macrons’ reputation and emotional well-being.
Candace Owens, responding to the lawsuit, has defiantly stated she will not “shut up” and reiterated her claims, calling the lawsuit a “desperate public relations strategy” and “littered with factual inaccuracies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The baseless speculation about Brigitte Macron’s gender first surfaced in 2021, gaining traction on various online platforms. While Brigitte Macron had previously won a libel case against two individuals in France who spread similar rumors, an appeals court recently overturned that decision, which Brigitte Macron has appealed to France’s highest court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. lawsuit will require the Macrons to prove “actual malice” on Owens’ part, a high legal bar that demands demonstrating Owens knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The case is expected to draw significant international attention as it unfolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"