Liputan6.com, Jakarta French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have formally filed a defamation lawsuit against far-right American podcaster Candace Owens.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in the Delaware Superior Court, following Owens' repeated claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man.
The legal action comes in response to what the Macron family calls a "global defamation campaign" waged by Owens.
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The false claims, which also claim that Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, have significantly damaged the reputation and integrity of the French First Lady.
Lawsuit Details
In the 22-point lawsuit, Macron and his wife accuse Owens of spreading "a bizarre narrative designed to inflame and degrade" in order to promote her independent platform.
The lawsuit also highlights Owens' eight-part podcast series, "Becoming Brigitte," which explicitly spreads the allegations, including the episode "Ep. 7 Candace & Xavier Poussard DÉMOLISSENT les Macron," which was uploaded on February 18, 2025.
The lawsuit filed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron targets Candace Owens and her Delaware-registered business entity.
The plaintiffs allege that Owens has used these lies to "promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and generate revenue," suggesting a financial motive behind the spread of the disinformation.
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Serious Allegations
A crucial point in the lawsuit is Owens' claim that Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux.
In fact, Jean-Michel Trogneux is the name of Brigitte's older brother, not her real name.
This allegation demonstrates a level of deliberate disinformation and has the potential to mislead the public.
The podcast series "Becoming Brigitte" serves as a key piece of evidence in the lawsuit, in which Owens spreads a variety of baseless allegations.
The claim that Brigitte Macron stole someone else's identity and transitioned into a woman is central to the narrative being spread, causing "tremendous harm" to the Macron family and making them "fuel for profit-driven lies."
Through this lawsuit, the Macron family hopes to "set the record straight and end this defamation campaign once and for all."
They are seeking unspecified damages to compensate for the reputational and emotional harm they have suffered as a result of these false allegations.
Candace Owens Response and Background to the Rumor
In response to the lawsuit, Candace Owens refused to retract her claims despite repeated requests from the Macron family's lawyers.
Owens called the lawsuit a "clear and desperate public relations ploy" aimed at defaming her character, not seeking justice.
Owens's spokesperson even stated that this was a case of "a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an independent American journalist."
This statement indicates that Owens views the lawsuit as an attempt to stifle free expression, even though her claims have been proven baseless.
Rumors and disinformation regarding Brigitte Macron's gender have circulated widely on social media both domestically and internationally for years.
The Macron family has repeatedly denied these claims, even citing Brigitte's birth announcement and family photos as credible evidence.
This lawsuit also follows a separate legal case the Macron family is pursuing in France against two women who spread similar transphobic theories about the president's wife.
This demonstrates that the Macron family is serious about combating disinformation and protecting its reputation from baseless accusations.
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