Topline
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte sued right-wing influencer Candace Owens on Wednesday, claiming Owens defamed the French first lady by repeatedly and falsely claiming she was born a man.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at 10 Downing Street in London, ... More
The Macrons accused Owens of having “built a brand on provocation, not truth” and “routinely peddling misinformation under the guise of legitimate reporting . . . to inflame and attract attention through sensationalism and conspiracy theories.”
Owens, while hosting a political talk show on the Daily Wire website last year, said “I would stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man” and continued to repeat the conspiracy theory, including launching an eight-episode series called “Becoming Brigitte.”
The 218-page lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, accuses Owens of 22 counts and seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.
An unnamed spokesperson for Owens told multiple outlets Owens would respond to the lawsuit on her podcast Wednesday.
"Because Ms. Owens systematically reaffirmed these falsehoods in response to each of our attorneys' repeated requests for a retraction, we ultimately concluded that referring the matter to a court of law was the only remaining avenue for remedy,” the Macrons said in a statement to multiple outlets.
Owens supported President Donald Trump for years, but recently turned on him, taking issue with his decision to involve the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict. Owens has also blasted Trump over the Justice Department’s decision not to release additional information on its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, accusing him of “gaslighting the public.”
In making her claims about Brigitte Macron’s biological sex, Owens has cited an investigation by French blogger Natacha Rey, who the Macrons have also sued. Owens has claimed Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux and that she and the French president are relatives. Owens was fired from the Daily Wire shortly after she made the claims about Macron’s wife and has since started her own podcast, “Candace.”
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