Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit in U.S. federal court against Candace Owens, accusing the conservative commentator of spreading a series of knowingly false and damaging claims that the First Lady of France was born biologically male.
Filed in Delaware on Wednesday, the extraordinary 219-page lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages for 22 separate counts of defamation. It alleges that Owens launched a “campaign of global humiliation” by repeatedly publishing debunked conspiracy theories, including the claim that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman who stole another person’s identity.
According to the filing, Owens made the first public accusation in March 2024, stating she would “stake [her] entire professional reputation” on the claim that Mrs. Macron “is in fact a man.” The lawsuit says Owens promoted this narrative ever since, most prominently through an eight-part podcast titled “Becoming Brigitte,” published after she received a legal retraction demand from the Macrons.
In the podcast and associated posts on X, Owens allegedly claimed the French First Lady was born male and transitioned to her current identity; that she and President Macron are blood relatives engaged in incest; and that the French president was installed through a CIA mind-control program.
“These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them,” the lawsuit states. It says Owens acted in pursuit of “fame and profit,” especially following her high-profile departure from The Daily Wire after feuding with founder Ben Shapiro.
Owens, who now runs her own independent podcast platform, has more than 6.9 million followers on X and over 4 million subscribers on YouTube. The lawsuit claims that her false statements about the Macrons have driven significant traffic to her channels and helped monetize her content.
Messages sent to Owens by TheWrap were not immediately returned Wednesday. Owens had not yet addressed the lawsuit on her social platforms by midday Wednesday, but foreshadowed it in a Tuesday X post, saying: “It’s official! Brigitte is now suing the author of ‘Becoming Brigitte’ for cyberbullying. Am I next?!”
The filing describes Owens’ broader track record of promoting conspiracy theories, including anti-vaccine misinformation, Holocaust distortion and antisemitic tropes. It also points out that Owens ignored direct outreach and credible evidence disproving her claims — including court decisions in France where similar rumors had already been ruled defamatory.
“The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale,” the complaint reads. “Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications.”
The Macrons are seeking damages to be determined at trial and a court order to prevent further dissemination of the false claims. The lawsuit was filed in Delaware because Owens’ LLC was formed in the state, according to the filing.
The lawsuit is a rare legal maneuver by a sitting head of state and spouse in a U.S. court, and underscores the growing international scrutiny of misinformation disseminated through online platforms.
