French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a 219-page defamation lawsuit against American right-wing podcaster Candace Owens on Wednesday, accusing her of waging a “relentless year-long campaign” that falsely claimed the French First Lady was born a man. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for what the Macrons describe as “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions.”
The 22-count complaint alleges that Owens, 35, published “demonstrably false” claims through her platforms, including an eight-part podcast series titled “Becoming Brigitte” and numerous social media posts. The lawsuit accuses the conservative commentator of spreading “incendiary and verifiably false accusations of identity theft, incest, violent crimes, and mind control” to feed a “frenzied fan base” in her “pursuit of fame.”
Tom Clare of Clare Locke LLP, lead counsel for the Macrons, announced the filing, stating: “Ms Owens has promoted a preposterous narrative about the Macrons including incendiary and verifiably false accusations.” The prominent defamation attorney, who previously represented Dominion Voting Systems in their $787.5 million settlement against Fox News, said: “If ever there was a clear-cut case of defamation, this is it.
Owens first propagated the false claims in March 2024, declaring on social media that she would stake her “entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron [the First Lady of France] is in fact a man.” The American commentator, who has a history of spreading disinformation including Holocaust minimisation, claimed her allegations were based on a “thorough investigation” by French blogger Natacha Rey.
The Macrons said in a joint statement: “Because Ms Owens systematically reaffirmed these falsehoods in response to each of our attorneys’ repeated requests for a retraction, we ultimately concluded that referring the matter to a court of law was the only remaining avenue for remedy.” They added: “Ms Owens’ campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety. We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused.”
The lawsuit comes just two weeks after a significant setback for the Macrons in France. On 10 July, the Paris Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of Rey, 49, and clairvoyant Amandine Roy, 53, who had been found guilty of libel and fined for spreading similar claims in a four-hour YouTube video. The appeals court ruled their statements were “made in good faith” and repeated information already in the public domain.
Sources close to the Macrons revealed that Brigitte has been “driven to despair” and left “absolutely devastated” by the online abuse stemming from the conspiracy theory. The false narrative alleges that Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux – the actual name of her older brother – before transitioning aged 30, and claims she did not give birth to any of her three children.
Clare, whose firm Clare Locke specialises in high-profile defamation cases, emphasised the severity of the allegations: “These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons.” The lawsuit describes how Owens “dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history — twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade.”
The wild claims originated from an article published in September 2021 by far-right French magazine Faits et Documents, which initially went unnoticed until Rey and Roy’s viral YouTube interview brought them to wider attention. Despite the Macrons providing Brigitte’s birth announcement and other documentation, the conspiracy theory has continued to spread online.
The relationship between Emmanuel Macron, 47, and Brigitte, 72, has long been a subject of public fascination. They met in 1992 when she was his 39-year-old married teacher at a Catholic school in Amiens and he was a 14-year-old pupil in the same class as one of her daughters. Brigitte later divorced her husband and began a relationship with Macron while he was in his late teens.
The Macrons have taken the Paris case to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest appeals court, whilst simultaneously pursuing their lawsuit against Owens in the United States. The Delaware filing cites Owens’ business entities being incorporated in the state as grounds for jurisdiction.
Legal experts note that Wednesday’s lawsuit represents a rare case of a world leader suing for defamation in American courts. To prevail under US law, the Macrons must prove “actual malice” – demonstrating that Owens knew her statements were false or showed reckless disregard for their truth.
The complaint details how the filing follows “three separate retraction demands sent to Ms Owens in the last year containing incontrovertible evidence” disproving her claims. According to the lawsuit, Owens ignored each request and instead “doubled down” on her allegations.
Clare Locke LLP, founded in 2014 by Tom Clare and his wife Libby Locke after leaving Kirkland & Ellis, has become renowned for representing high-profile clients in defamation cases. The firm previously secured a $26 million verdict against Puma Biotechnology and represented Sarah Palin in her case against The New York Times.
The lawsuit alleges that Owens’ actions turned the Macrons’ lives into “fodder for profit-driven lies” and subjected them to a “campaign of global humiliation.” It seeks not only financial damages but also aims to “set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all.”
The case adds to growing international concern about the spread of disinformation through social media platforms and podcasts. Owens, who left The Daily Wire earlier this year, continues to maintain a significant online following despite platform restrictions for policy violations.
“It is our earnest hope that this lawsuit will set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all,” the Macrons concluded in their statement, signalling their determination to pursue the matter through the American legal system despite the challenges facing public figures in US defamation cases.
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