French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have initiated legal proceedings in the United States against conservative commentator Candace Owens, following a torrent of claims propagated by the influencer.

As first reported by the Financial Times, the Macrons have filed a 218-page defamation lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court, accusing Owens of spreading "outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions" regarding the French First Lady’s identity and the President’s origins.

Central to the case are claims made by Owens in her eight-part web series Becoming Brigitte, in which she asserted that Brigitte Macron was born male under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux. The lawsuit also targets other allegations, including that Emmanuel Macron is the product of a CIA mind control experiment and that the couple are blood relatives. According to the court filing, the Macrons were compelled to act after Owens refused to retract her statements despite multiple requests.

Despite all of the censorship and prosecution in France we are already trending.

Because today is #BecomingBrigitte Day.

The French citizens have been gaslit for years by their media.
That ends today. pic.twitter.com/m2v5YK5hIJ

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 31, 2025

The legal team representing the French presidential couple, led by attorney Thomas Clare, stated that the misinformation campaign had caused significant reputational harm and forced them to spend "considerable sums of money to correct the public record." Clare stated, "It’s important to stand up for themselves," noting that the Macrons are prepared to appear in person before a Delaware jury to seek punitive damages.

The case marks a rare instance of a sitting head of state pursuing legal action in an American court. Under US law, the Macrons, both considered public figures, must meet the high bar of proving "actual malice," meaning that Owens either knowingly spread falsehoods or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

Persistent smears

This is not the first time such claims have been brought into legal scrutiny. In France, independent journalist Natacha Rey and YouTuber Amandine Roy were found guilty of defamation in 2023 for promoting similar accusations. Although Rey’s conviction was overturned by the Paris Court of Appeal in July 2025, the controversy continues to resonate. A Paris court had previously ordered Rey and Roy to pay a €13,500 fine in September 2024.

The defamatory rumors, which first surfaced online in 2021, have been publicly denounced by President Macron. In a March 2024 interview, he reflected on the deeply personal toll of such disinformation campaigns, stating, "The worst thing he faces as president is false information and fabricated stories" that people believe and then "start to harass you, including in your personal life."

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