French President Emmanuel Macronand his wife, French First Lady Brigitte Macron, filed a lawsuit against anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA broadcaster Candace Owens in Owens’ home state of Tennessee over Owens’ repeated claims that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman. The lawsuit appeared on a state database on November 4 and has since been confirmed by the Macrons, according to Politico.
The Macrons had previously filed a lawsuit against Owens and her two media companies in July 2025 in Delaware, the state where her businesses are registered. However, last month, a Delaware court narrowed the Macrons’ suit, saying that they could not personally sue her in a Delaware court because she doesn’t live there.
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In June 2024, Owens began repeating a conspiracy theory — originated by two women who were initially found liable for defamation — that Brigitte Macron is actually her own real-life brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, who transitioned into a woman. (Trogneux and Brigitte Macron have been photographed together during events connected to Emmanuel Macron’s presidential inaugurations in 2017 and 2022. The two also attended a defamation trial of the aforementioned women.)
Citing the conspiracy theory, Owens accused the French president of being gay, saying his allegedly pre-transitioned wife had raped by him when he was a teen. In reality, the Macrons first met when he was 15 and she was a 40-year-old instructor at his high school. Years later, Brigitte divorced her husband and married the future president.
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The lawsuit says Owens’ repeated claims have “caused tremendous damage to the Macrons,” causing “global humiliation” and “turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies.” Owen created an eight-part podcast series in which she “investigated” Brigitte Macron’s gender identity. She also sold t-shirts with a fake Time Magazine “Man of the Year” cover featuring a photo of Brigitte Macron.
“Owens published the series and related X posts with reckless disregard for the truth,” the Macrons’ lawsuit states. “Owens was repeatedly presented with credible, verifiable evidence disproving her claims — including documentation, public records, and direct outreach from the Macrons. Instead of correcting the record, she doubled down… Owens, fully aware of the truth, has not only declined to retract her statements but has actively expanded on them.”
When the Macrons first sued Owens, Owens replied, “We’re not gonna shut up. You’re not going to bully us. Frankly, I find this all to be irresistible and delicious. You have definitively met your match. I cannot stand corruption.”
“You wanted to smear me, and it’s not going to work,” Owens continued. “We’re revolting against the perverts that run the world, and I want to be very clear here, I count you among them. I think you’re sick, I think you’re disgusting, and I am fully prepared to take on this battle on behalf of the entire world.”
The Macrons’ US attorney Tom Clare says they will offer “scientific” evidence and photographic proof that will “demonstrate fully, both generically and specifically,” that Owens is wrong.
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