French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, have taken the rare step of filing a 22-count defamation lawsuit against American conservative commentator and podcaster Candace Owens. The suit, filed on July 23, 2025, in Delaware Superior Court, accuses Owens of launching a relentless, year-long campaign of falsehoods and harassment aimed at the French first couple, centering on baseless claims about Brigitte Macron's gender identity.
At the heart of the lawsuit is Owens' repeated assertion that Brigitte Macron was born biologically male — a claim she revived in March 2024 with a provocative YouTube video titled "Is France’s First Lady a Man?" and further expanded through a multi-part podcast series called "Becoming Brigitte." Owens, who boasts nearly 4.5 million YouTube subscribers, has also reportedly sold merchandise promoting this conspiracy theory. According to the complaint, these claims are not only false but have been used by Owens to boost her platform and monetize her audience.
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron’s legal team, led by attorney Tom Clare of the boutique defamation firm Clare Locke, states that Owens was the first to bring these defamatory allegations to the U.S. media, dramatically amplifying their reach and impact. The Macrons allege that Owens’ campaign has caused them "tremendous damage," including substantial economic losses and harm to their personal lives. Clare explained to CNN, "What people forget is these are human beings. These are a married couple. They have a social life, they have a private life together, they have the same feelings and the same hurt from these sorts of defamatory statements as anybody would. And it does have a material impact on them." The complaint vividly describes the ordeal: "Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust."
The lawsuit details a litany of outlandish allegations Owens has propagated, including claims that Brigitte Macron "stole another person’s identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte; Mrs. Macron and President Macron are blood relatives committing incest; President Macron was chosen to be the President of France as part of the CIA-operated MKUltra program or a similar mind-control program; and Mrs. Macron and President Macron are committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets." The Macrons contend they provided Owens with "incontrovertible evidence disproving her allegations and proving, among other things, that Mrs. Macron was born a woman named Brigitte Trogneux, that she is not a blood relative of President Macron," yet Owens refused to retract her statements, instead mocking the couple and using the controversy to fuel her fan base.
This legal action comes after similar claims were made in France by two women, Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey, who in 2021 released a viral YouTube video claiming that Brigitte Macron never existed and was actually her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux. Although they were initially convicted of defamation, their case was overturned on appeal in 2025, and their lawsuit is set to proceed to a higher court.
Owens, a Nashville resident since 2020, has responded defiantly to the lawsuit. On July 23, 2025, she posted a screenshot of an article about the Macrons' lawsuit on Instagram with the caption, "I will be coming for this wig today. Stay tuned." She also livestreamed a video on YouTube calling the lawsuit "an obvious and desperate public relations strategy," criticizing Macron for being the first sitting first lady of a foreign country to file a defamation suit against an American journalist. Owens even suggested Macron should "fire everyone" who advised her to pursue the lawsuit, saying, "You are literally making history in all the wrong ways." She has also hinted at a second season of her "Becoming Brigitte" series, claiming to hold information that could force Emmanuel Macron to "step down," stating, "My series has been the undoing of them."
The Macrons are seeking punitive damages and a jury trial in Delaware, where Owens' business entities are based. While the exact amount of damages sought has not been disclosed, Clare warned that if Owens continues to double down on her claims, the financial penalty could be substantial. The lawsuit underscores the challenges public figures face in the U.S. legal system, where to win a defamation case, plaintiffs must prove "actual malice"—that the defendant knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
President Macron himself addressed the damaging rumors in March 2024 at a Paris event, lamenting that the worst part of being president was dealing with "false information and fabricated stories." He noted, "People end up believing them, and it disrupts your life, even in your most private moments." Meanwhile, the Elysee Palace has described the lawsuit as a "private affair" and declined to comment further.
Brigitte Macron’s background adds context to the controversy. She was a literature teacher at the Lycée La Providence, a Jesuit high school in Amiens, where she met Emmanuel Macron, then a student in her drama class. Despite their 24-year age difference, the two developed a close bond. Macron moved to Paris for his final years of schooling, but they kept in touch and eventually became a couple after he turned 18. They married in 2007. Brigitte Macron has three children from a previous marriage to banker André-Louis Auzière, which ended in divorce in 2006.
Legal experts point out that this lawsuit is a rare example of a sitting world leader suing for defamation in the U.S., a jurisdiction known for strong free speech protections. The case also highlights the complex intersection of international politics, social media influence, and the spread of misinformation. Owens’ spokesperson has criticized the lawsuit as a "foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist," reflecting the contentious nature of the dispute.
As the case unfolds, it raises broader questions about accountability in the digital age, the limits of free speech, and the personal toll of public conspiracy theories. For the Macrons, the lawsuit represents a stand against what they describe as relentless bullying and a fight to protect their dignity and privacy amid a storm of falsehoods.
