French President sues Candace Owens over defamation regarding wife Brigitte Macron

Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and influencer, is now facing legal action from French President Emmanuel Macron, the podcaster announced on her social media platform Wednesday, July 23. The defamation lawsuit arises from Owens' disseminating claims regarding Brigitte Macron, the French First Lady. Owens told her social media audiences that the lawsuit is prompted by her involvement in spreading a narrative about Brigitte Macron's gender identity, alleging that the First Lady was born a man. 

Legal actions of this nature are significant, especially when involving international figures like Owens and the Macrons. According to Reuters, this type of lawsuit is rare because of the involvement of a world leader. President Macron’s legal move appears to be aimed at protecting the dignity and reputation of his wife amid allegations. Reuters reports that part of Macron’s complaint is the allegation that Brigitte was born with the name of her older brother Jean-Michel Trogneux—insinuating that she stole his identity—also that the Macrons are blood relatives and that Brigitte groomed Emmanuel as a high school student. According to the source, Brigitte was Emmanuel’s high school teacher when they met.

It was also well-documented by Reuters back in 2017 that, when he was 16 years old, President Macron's parents wanted him to end a "schoolboy romance" he was having with Brigitte, a married drama teacher with three kids who was 24 years his senior.

Reuters reported that the Macrons commented on the lawsuit, saying, "Ms. Owens's campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety. We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused."

Owens, known for her provocative statements and outspoken nature, has a substantial following across various media platforms with 5.6 million Instagram followers and 4.47 million YouTube subscribers. Among her popular videos on YouTube is the “Becoming Brigitte” series, which includes eight videos diving into her theory about the French First Lady; the introduction video alone received a total of 4.5 million views, higher than her subscriber count. 

A warning from President Trump

This lawsuit comes just weeks after the podcaster unveiled a secret phone call with President Donald Trump back in February, who supposedly asked her to stop discussing Brigitte on her YouTube. At the same time, she told her podcast viewers this occurred as the Macrons were sending her legal letters. According to Owens, she received a phone call from the president, who told her that Emmanuel Macron himself requested that she stop talking about his wife while the French president was visiting the United States. 

Owens further claims that President Trump hinted that doing him this favor would be what it takes for the French president to finally sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the hopes of bringing the Russian-Ukrainian war to an end.

Regarding the phone call with President Trump and the alleged contingency of war talks, Owens told her audiences that she and her husband claimed, “No one will ever believe us.”

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Prior defamation suits and influencer responsibility

According to Newsweek, Candace Owens is not the first journalist to be involved in a complaint regarding this topic; last year, Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey had complaints filed against them for a 2021 video that also made the claim saying Brigitte had once been a man named Jean-Michele Trogneux, who apparently is her brother. Newsweek further reported that even though the court initially ordered the women to pay damages, the ruling was overturned in July 2025 by the Paris Court of Appeals. Brigitte soon after went to France’s highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, to appeal the case.    

Owens’ influence extends far due to her wide visibility, making her legal conflict noteworthy in discussions about possible misinformation, especially with how divided social media audiences seem to be on the matter.

In retaliation for the lawsuit announcement, Owens commented on her podcast that went live at 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday, saying that she believes the lawsuit is all a PR strategy since she and her lawyer hadn’t discovered she was being sued until it was revealed in the press. Owens maintains that her entire stance is based on author Xavier Poussard’s book “Becoming Brigitte,” who happens to be a French citizen, notably not being sued for the same claims.

When discussing why Brigitte allegedly being a man is a notable subject to press on, Owens—a conservative mother of four who prides herself on fighting pedophilia and protecting children—added in the podcast that her battle regarding this stance is important to take on ongoing corruption and grooming from elites and government leaders.