Macron sues US right-wing podcaster who claimed France’s first lady was born male
Lawsuit accuses American influencer Candace Owens of waging a lie-filled ‘campaign of global humiliation’ to expand her fan base
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit in the US on Wednesday against right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, centered on her claim that France’s first lady is male.
The Macrons said in a complaint filed in Delaware Superior Court that Owens had waged a lie-filled “campaign of global humiliation” to promote her podcast and expand her “frenzied” fan base.
These lies included that Brigitte Macron, 72, was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the actual name of her older brother, the Macrons said.
“Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history – twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade,” the complaint said.
“The result,” the complaint added, “is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale”.
In her podcast on Wednesday, Owens said: “This lawsuit is littered with factual inaccuracies”, and part of an “obvious and desperate public relations strategy” to smear her character.