Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron filed a fresh defamation lawsuit in the United States last week against conservative influencer Candace Owens, who has alleged that the French president’s wife is transgender.
The Macrons brought the case in federal court in Tennessee, where Owens lives. They accuse the right-wing podcaster of using the claim to promote her independent media platform, attract attention and generate income.
Owens confirmed the lawsuit on Monday in a post on X, writing that the “Macrons have indeed filed a NEW set of claims against me.”
The new complaint follows an October ruling that narrowed the scope of an earlier lawsuit filed in Delaware in 2025.
In that case, a judge dismissed the claims against Owens personally on jurisdictional grounds but allowed the proceedings against companies linked to her to continue.
The Macrons’ latest filing accuses Owens of “unequivocally” intensifying her allegations after the first lawsuit was launched.
“She has continued to use her podcast to expand her lies about the Macrons, sell merchandise making fun of the Macrons, and collect donations based on her ‘reporting’ on the Macrons,” the 411-page complaint states.
Although the Macrons described Owens’ material as “verifiably false and devastating lies,” they stressed that “there is nothing shameful or defamatory about being a man, being transgender, or being gay.” They said the statements were defamatory because they portrayed the couple as having deceived France and the wider world for decades about Brigitte Macron’s identity and as having committed crimes to hide that alleged deception.
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron have filed a new US defamation lawsuit against conservative influencer Candace Owens, who claims the French president’s wife is transgender
Candace Owens (pictured) and her lawyers argue that the Macrons’ lawsuit is a “politically motivated” effort to silence protected speech
The Macrons sued Owens and two Delaware-registered companies associated with her last July over what they called a “campaign of global humiliation”
Brigitte Macron, 73, has also pursued legal action in France over claims that she was born male.
In September 2024, two women were convicted of spreading false allegations after publishing a YouTube video in December 2021 claiming that Brigitte Macron had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux. Trogneux is, in fact, her brother.
The false claims about Brigitte Macron have repeatedly resurfaced on French social media since her husband was first elected president in 2017.
They gained wider international traction, particularly in the United States, after Owens promoted them in March 2024 through social media posts and a video series titled “Becoming Brigitte.”
“These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them,” the new court filing alleges.
“These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons. Defendant has subjected the Macrons to a campaign of global humiliation.”
The latest lawsuit was filed after the first defamation case suffered a setback when a judge ruled that Owens could not be held personally liable.
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The Macrons sued Owens and two Delaware-registered companies connected to her last July, accusing them of orchestrating a “campaign of global humiliation.”
However, Delaware Superior Court Judge Sheldon Rennie ruled in October that the court did not have jurisdiction over Owens, who resides in Tennessee.
The claims against Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc. could proceed because both companies were registered in Delaware.
“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 says.
“The result,” it adds, “is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.”
Owens launched the Becoming Brigitte podcast series in 2025, making a series of false allegations about Brigitte Macron. Among them were claims that she had stolen another person’s identity, transitioned to female and that the Macrons were blood relatives engaged in incest.
The allegations about Brigitte Macron’s gender can be traced to a 2021 “investigation” published by Faits et Documents, a small far-right magazine criticized for promoting antisemitism and conspiracy theories.
The article was co-written by self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey and Xavier Poussard but initially attracted little attention.
Rey later discussed her unfounded theories in a four-hour YouTube interview with a “spiritual medium,” Delphine Jégousse, also known as Amandine Roy. The video went viral ahead of France’s 2022 presidential election.
Although Rey was found guilty of defaming Brigitte Macron in September 2024, Owens continued to promote the allegations.
Earlier this year, 10 people who circulated what prosecutors described as malicious claims that the First Lady was born male were convicted of cyberbullying.
A Paris court handed the defendants suspended prison sentences of up to eight months over comments described as “particularly degrading and insulting” toward Brigitte Macron.
The eight men and two women, aged between 41 and 65, were accused of posting numerous false claims that she was born a man and of linking the 24-year age difference between her and Emmanuel Macron to paedophilia.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial, which took place in October last year.
After the sentencing, she told French broadcaster TF1 that she had brought the legal cases to “set an example” and challenge online harassment. Some of the posts had been viewed tens of thousands of times.
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, told the court that the online abuse had led to a “deterioration” in her mother’s life.
“She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière said.
Auzière also said the harassment had affected the wider family, including Macron’s grandchildren.