France’s First Couple Sue Candace Owens Over Brigitte Macron Gender Claim
Brigitte Macron Sues Candace Owens Over Viral Gender Claim, Demands ‘Substantial’ Damages
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have launched a high-profile defamation lawsuit against U.S. conservative commentator Candace Owens, escalating a controversy fueled by viral gender conspiracy theories.
Filed in a Delaware court on Wednesday, the lawsuit accuses Owens of “knowingly spreading false and defamatory claims” that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman — a rumor that has circulated online for years. The couple’s attorney, Tom Clare, told CNN that the legal action follows a year of ignored requests for Owens to retract her statements.
“Enough is enough,” Clare said. “She mocked our efforts to correct the record. It’s time she’s held accountable.”
The Macrons have been married since 2007. Emmanuel Macron, 47, is serving his second and final term as president, while Brigitte Macron turned 72 in April. The couple first met when Emmanuel was a student and Brigitte, then Brigitte Auzière, was a teacher at his high school.
Owens, who has 4.5 million YouTube followers, dismissed the lawsuit in a video as a “desperate PR stunt” and doubled down on her claim, referring to the first lady as “a very goofy man.” Owens has courted controversy before — in 2024, she was banned from New Zealand and Australia after Holocaust denial remarks.
The 219-page complaint includes detailed records proving Brigitte Macron “was born and has always been a woman,” Clare said, warning that if Owens continues her commentary, the damages awarded “will be substantial.”
This isn’t the first legal fight over the rumors. In 2023, Brigitte and her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, won a French defamation case against two women for spreading the same gender-based conspiracy. However, a Paris appeals court overturned that ruling earlier this month, prompting the Macrons to file an appeal with France’s highest court.
The lawsuit marks a broader pushback against the increasing use of misinformation and digital disinformation by online influencers — a theme that’s become a flashpoint in European politics heading into upcoming elections.
The Élysée Palace has not issued a formal statement.
