{"id":983,"date":"2025-07-24T09:48:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=983"},"modified":"2025-07-24T09:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:48:06","slug":"french-president-sues-candace-owens-over-claims-his-wife-is-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=983","title":{"rendered":"French president sues Candace Owens over claims his wife is a man"},"content":{"rendered":"

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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, filed a 22-count defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing\u202fpodcaster Candace Owens Wednesday over the claim that Brigitte could be a man.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court alleges Owens has broadcast \u201ca relentless year-long campaign of defamation against the Macrons\u201d according to a statement from Tom Clare, the Macrons\u2019 lawyer.<\/p>\n

In March, conservative commentator Candace Owens revived an absurd conspiracy theory with a YouTube video titled \u201cIs France\u2019s First Lady a Man?\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Promoted widely on X, Owens said the conspiracy theory was, \u201clikely the biggest scandal in political history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Owens has produced numerous videos about Brigitte Macron for her nearly 4.5\u202fmillion YouTube subscribers, including a multi-part series called \u201cBecoming Brigitte.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit further claims she has also sold\u202fmerchandise promoting the claim.<\/p>\n

The Macrons\u2019 attorney Tom Clare told CNN Wednesday that they had asked Owens to stop making the claim for about a year and filed the lawsuit as a \u201clast resort\u201d after she refused.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Owens was the first person to bring these baseless claims to the US media and\u202fan international audience. The couple are suing for punitive damages and allege that they have suffered \u201csubstantial economic damages\u201d including loss of future business opportunities.<\/p>\n

On Instagram, Owens posted a screenshot Wednesday of an article referencing the Macrons\u2019 lawsuit and a picture of the couple with the caption: \u201cI will be coming for this wig today. Stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later posted a video on YouTube saying the lawsuit was \u201can obvious and desperate public relations strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN has reached out to Owens for comment.<\/p>\n

Separately, Brigitte Macron sued two French women for spreading similar claims in 2022. After winning the initial case, this year the women won an appeal and the lawsuit will go to a higher court,\u00a0according to CNN affiliate BFMTV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the statement, these retraction demands to Owens were accompanied by,\u202f\u201cincontrovertible evidence disproving her allegations and proving, among other things, that Mrs. Macron was born a woman named Brigitte Trogneux, that she is not a blood relative of President Macron,\u201d and that the Macrons are not being controlled or blackmailed by unknown forces by a CIA-linked program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwens has used this false statement to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money,\u201d the official complaint said.<\/p>\n

The claims caused, \u201ctremendous damage\u201d to the Macrons, the complaint added.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust,\u201d the complaint continued.<\/p>\n

Clare said, \u201cWhat people forget is these are human beings, these are a married couple. They have a social life, they have a private life together, they have the same feelings and the same hurt from these sorts of defamatory statements as anybody would. And it does have a material impact on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Macrons are seeking punitive damages against Owens and her business entities for 22 counts of defamation, false light, and defamation by implication, the\u202fstatement said.<\/p>\n

Clare declined to say the amount of money the Macrons would seek but warned that if Owens continues to double-down on the claim, \u201cit\u2019ll be a substantial award.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a Paris event in March 2024, Macron addressed the rumor\u202faround his wife saying that the worst part of being a president was having to deal with \u201cthe false information and fabricated stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople end up believing them, and it disrupts your life, even in your most private moments,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Elysee Palace said the lawsuit was a \u201cprivate affair\u201d and would not comment on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, filed a 22-count defamation lawsuit in the United States<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrity","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions\/985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}