French President, Emmanuel Macron and Wife Brigitte File Rare U.S. Defamation Lawsuit Against Candace Owens Over Claims First Lady Is Male

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, have taken an extraordinary legal step by filing a defamation lawsuit in the United States against American right-wing influencer and podcaster, Candace Owens. The case, lodged on Wednesday in the Delaware Superior Court, centers on Owens’ widely circulated claims that France’s First Lady is male.

According to the complaint, the Macrons accuse Owens of orchestrating a lie-filled “campaign of global humiliation” designed to boost her podcast ratings and fuel her “frenzied” fan base.

The French first couple alleged that Owens’ statements went beyond speculation, insisting she pushed the falsehood that Brigitte, 72, was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the actual name of her older brother. They said, “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 complaint further emphasized the devastating effect of the smear, stating: “The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.”

Owens, however, pushed back almost immediately. In her Wednesday podcast, she argued, “This lawsuit is littered with factual inaccuracies,” describing it as part of an “obvious and desperate public relations strategy” aimed at damaging her reputation. She also claimed she had not been aware the lawsuit was imminent, despite lawyers for both parties having been in communication since January.

Her spokesperson went further, framing the action as an attack on press freedom: “This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist.” Owens’ camp contends the lawsuit only came after Brigitte Macron refused repeated requests for an interview.

In their own joint statement, released through their lawyers, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron explained their motivation for pursuing the case. 

“Ms. Owens’s 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,” they said.

The lawsuit marks a rare instance of a sitting world leader and their spouse directly suing for defamation in a U.S. court. Legal analysts suggest the case could raise significant questions about the balance between reputational rights and America’s expansive free speech protections under the First Amendment.