Macrons file new defamation lawsuit against US podcaster over transgender rumours

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron filed a new defamation lawsuit in the United States last week against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who claims the French president's wife is a transgender woman.

The Macrons filed suit in a federal court in the southern state of Tennessee, where Owens resides, arguing that the conservative podcaster has "used this false statement to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money".

Owens confirmed the lawsuit Monday, writing on X, that the "Macrons have indeed filed a NEW set of claims against me".

The latest filing comes after a judge limited the scope of their previous complaint at the end of October, for a case that was filed in Delaware in 2025.

In the Delaware case, the judge dismissed the case against Owens, as an individual, on jurisdictional grounds but allowed proceedings against her companies to continue.

In the latest suit, the Macrons accuse Owens of "unequivocally" doubling down after the first lawsuit was filed.

"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," according to the 411-page complaint.

While the Macrons called Owen's content "verifiably false and devastating lies", they noted "there is nothing shameful or defamatory about being a man, being transgender, or being gay. Owens' statements are defamatory because they accuse the Macrons of lying to France and to the world, for decades, about who Mrs. Macron is – and of committing crimes to conceal that supposed lie."

Brigitte Macron, 73, has also taken to the courts in France to combat claims she was born a man.

Two women were convicted in September 2024 of spreading false claims after they posted a YouTube video in December 2021 alleging that Brigitte Macron had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux – who is actually her brother.

The fake news about Brigitte Macron has regularly resurfaced on French social media since her husband's first election in 2017.

But it flourished abroad and particularly in the United States after Owens seized on it in March 2024, creating social media content and a video series titled "Becoming Brigitte".

"These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them," the court filing said.

"These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons. Defendant has subjected the Macrons to a campaign of global humiliation."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)