The saga between conservative commentator Candace Owens and the first family of France has turned legal over Owens’ relentless and yearslong claim that the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron was born male.
The more than 200-page lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court claims the well-known podcaster created a “relentless and unjustified smear campaign” that has left the Macrons “with no choice but to seek relief through this Court to set the record straight, prevent further harm, and hold Defendants accountable for their conduct.”
The Macrons’ attorney, Tom Clare, told CNN that Owens’ persistent allegations regarding French first lady Brigitte Macron’s gender have left them no choice but to file a defamation suit.
“They have tried to get Candace Owens to acknowledge the facts and evidence proving that her claims are wrong, and to engage constructively with the truth, and each time she has mocked them,” Clare said.
“These types of false statements become a cancer, right? They metastasize into other media outlets, and pretty soon, it becomes an accepted part of the narrative.”
However, the lawsuit appears to have only strengthened Owens’ convictions.
She posted on X Friday that she believes the lawsuit only proves her theory.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this,” Owens said, “but if you have to file a lawsuit in a foreign country to prove to the world that you are a woman, it is because you most certainly are not one.”
Last year, Owens posted that she would “stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man.”
“Any journalist or publication that is trying to dismiss this plausibility is immediately identifiable as establishment. I have never seen anything like this in my life. The implications here are terrifying. I do not intend to let up on this story and I am calling on other journalists to look into this explosive story and report accordingly,” she added.
Clare told CNN that it was time to “set the record straight” and “hold her accountable,” after the Macrons had apparently tried to settle this feud for years.
The Macrons have been married since 2007, and Emmanuel Macron, 47, has been the president of France since 2017. Their marriage has been criticized for its wide age gap and the fact that his wife was originally a teacher where he attended high school. His wife turned 72 this year.
She eventually divorced her first husband and wed Macron.
“On April 13, 1953, in Amiens, France, Mrs. Macron was born Brigitte Trogneux — a woman. She was the youngest of six children in a prominent chocolate-making family in Amiens," the lawsuit reads, showing apparent images of a birth announcement and family photo of Brigitte as a child.
“In May 2021, Poussard began publishing a multi-issue series entitled ‘The Mystery of Brigitte Macron.’ That series recycled and expanded on numerous falsehoods, including the defamatory insinuations regarding Mrs. Macron’s alleged biological sex — allegations later amplified and expanded on by Owens."
The lawsuit against Owens seeks unspecified financial compensation as well as any other remedies the court deems fair and appropriate.
Since the lawsuit was made public, Owens has shared that her YouTube series “Becoming Brigitte” is going viral.