French First Lady Brigitte Macron has filed a defamation lawsuit against conservative commentator Candace Owens, alleging a “campaign of global humiliation.” The suit, filed in a Delaware court on Wednesday, spans 218 pages and seeks unspecified actual, presumed, and punitive damages.
Candace Owens responds to the lawsuit
Owens addressed the lawsuit on her podcast, saying, “I wake up, I stretch, I have a cup of coffee, and then I am served with a lawsuit.” She repeated her controversial claim that Macron was “born male,” a statement she has previously defended by saying she would “stake [her] entire professional reputation” on it. The Macrons are represented by Clare Locke LLP, a firm known for high-stakes reputation cases. The firm notably served as co-counsel in Dominion Voting Systems’ $787 million defamation case against Fox News. Lead counsel Tom Clare told CNN the legal action was a last resort after repeated attempts to engage with Owens were ignored. “We have attempted to engage with [Owens] for the last year… Enough is enough,” he said. Despite the legal threat, Owens remained defiant. “I am fully prepared to take on this battle,” she said. “On behalf of the entire world, I will see you in court.”
🚨 WATCH: Candace Owens just poured gasoline on the Macron lawsuit, straight-up telling Brigitte, “You were born a man and you’ll die a man… See you in court.”
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) July 24, 2025
She’s pledging to fight “on behalf of the entire world,” daring the French First Family to drag this into discovery. pic.twitter.com/oPWPBcxjmP
What does the 218-page lawsuit contain?
The 218-page lawsuit, filed in Delaware on Wednesday, marks a highly unusual move, a sitting world leader personally pursuing legal action against a social media personality. According to the Financial Times, the suit describes Owens’ comments as “outlandish, defamatory and far-fetched fictions.” Chief among the allegations is Owens’ claim that Brigitte Macron was born male under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux. The lawsuit also accuses Owens of promoting wild conspiracy theories, including that the Macrons are blood relatives and that Emmanuel Macron is the result of a CIA human experiment or a similar mind-control program. “Because Ms Owens systematically reaffirmed these falsehoods in response to each of our attorneys’ repeated requests for a retraction, we ultimately concluded that referring the matter to a court of law was the only remaining avenue,” the Macrons said in a statement, as quoted by the news outlet.
Their lawyer, Thomas Clare of the defamation law firm Clare Locke, said: “They believe it’s important to stand up for themselves… Owens has had multiple opportunities to do the right thing and in response she has only mocked them.” The Macrons are seeking a jury trial and punitive damages, alleging that Owens’ conduct has caused “substantial reputational damage” and forced them to spend “considerable sums of money to correct the public record.” Clare said the couple is even willing to travel to Delaware to appear in court personally, due to the seriousness of the allegations and their commitment to fighting them.
The lawsuit centers on Owens’ eight-part series titled “Becoming Brigitte”. According to the Macrons’ legal filing, Owens “used [a] false statement” about Brigitte’s gender “to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety and make money.” They also accuse her of ignoring repeated efforts to engage with her privately.
“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 filing states. “The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.”