French President Emmanuel Macron has said he sued far-right influencer Candace Owens to combat her “nonsense” claims about his wife Brigitte Macron. In his first remarks on the matter, Macron told Paris Match that the false allegations had become so widespread in the United States that he felt compelled to act.
The Macrons filed a defamation lawsuit last month in Delaware state court, accusing Owens of a “relentless and unjustified smear campaign” falsely claiming Brigitte Macron was born a man. The lawsuit seeks damages on 22 counts, including defamation and false light.
Macron said he initially hesitated to sue for fear of the “Streisand effect,” where trying to suppress information draws more attention. However, the magnitude of the claims forced him to respond. “It is not freedom of speech to want to prevent the restoration of the truth,” he said.
The complaint alleges Owens’s claims, first made in March 2024 and expanded in her podcast series “Becoming Brigitte,” have caused “tremendous damage” and subjected the couple to a “campaign of global humiliation.” Owens has said she is “fully prepared to take on this battle.”
A spokesperson for Owens described the lawsuit as “a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist.” Owens has also claimed that US President Donald Trump personally asked her to stop the claims after Macron raised the issue during Ukraine negotiations.
