French President and First Lady Sue Candace Owens

French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macros, has ramped up her legal fight over widespread conspiracy theories claiming she was born a man. Emmanuel and Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit against far-right influencer Candace Owens for repeatedly promoting the theory on her podcast and on social media, Knewz.com can reveal. The lawsuit centers on an eight-part series Owens covered titled “Becoming Brigitte” in which the podcaster alleges Brigitte stole another person’s identity and transitioned to a woman.

Emmanuel and Brigitte’s 22-count complaint was filed on Wednesday, July 23, in Delaware Superior Court. The Macrons are seeking an unspecified amount of damages from Owens. The lawsuit states, “These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them. Yet, she published them anyway. And the reason is clear: It is not the pursuit of truth, but the pursuit of fame.” According to the filing, the Macrons claim Owens refused to comply with three separate retraction requests sent by their lawyer from December 2024 to July 1.

Emmanuel and Brigitte decided to take legal action after the final retraction request as the podcaster continued to promote “outlandish, defamatory and far-fetched fictions.” The Macrons said in a statement, “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. 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 accuse Owens of intentionally spreading baseless and harmful misinformation to “inflame and attract attention through sensationalism and conspiracy theories.” The lawsuit says Owens’ lies “have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons” and “subjected the Macrons to a campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies.” It continues, “Owens has 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 result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.”

In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the podcaster said, “Candace Owens is not shutting up. This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist. Candace repeatedly requested an interview with Brigitte Macron. Instead of offering a comment, Brigitte is resorting to trying to bully a reporter into submission. In France, politicians can bully journalists, but this is not France. It’s America.” Owens’ allegations are largely based on a 2021 YouTube video posted by self-proclaimed spirit medium Amandine Roy and self-described journalist Natacha Rey. In the video, the two women alleged Brigitte was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, who is actually Brigitte’s brother. Brigitte responded by suing Roy and Rey for libel. A lower court convicted the two women in September and ordered the defendants to pay thousands in damages to Brigitte and her brother. On July 10, a Paris appeals court overturned Roy and Rey’s convictions. Soon after, Brigitte’s lawyer announced plans to appeal the case to France’s highest appeals court – and said Trogneux would be doing the same.