France’s first couple sue Candace Owens for defamation over claims that Brigitte Macron is a man

PARIS (AP) — A lawyer representing France's first couple announced that they will pursue "substantial" damages from U.S. conservative influencer Candace Owens if she continues to assert that President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, is a man.

The attorney, Tom Clare, stated in a CNN interview that a defamation lawsuit filed on Wednesday in a Delaware court for the Macrons is "truly a last resort" following a year of unsuccessful attempts to engage with Owens and requests for her to "do the right thing: tell the truth, stop spreading these lies."

"Every time we’ve made that effort, she has ridiculed the Macrons and dismissed our attempts to clarify the situation," Clare remarked. "Enough is enough; it was time to hold her accountable."

The Macrons have been married since 2007, and Emmanuel Macron has served as France’s president since 2017.

In a YouTube video, Owens referred to the situation as an "obvious and desperate public relations strategy," claiming that the first lady is "a very goofy man."

Owens is a conservative political commentator with approximately 4.5 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. In 2024, she was denied entry to New Zealand and Australia due to comments in which she dismissed Nazi medical experimentation on Jews in concentration camps during World War II.