Overview

• Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron filed a 218-page defamation complaint in Delaware Superior Court on July 23 against Candace Owens for falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron was born male.
• The suit alleges that Owens refused multiple requests to retract the allegations and perpetuated the conspiracy through her eight-part "Becoming Brigitte" series to gain notoriety and revenue.
• The Macrons are seeking exemplary damages with a jury trial to determine punitive compensation for the global spread of the false gender-based rumor.
• The action follows a Paris appeals court’s July 10 acquittal of two French defamation defendants and highlights the couple’s strategy to use U.S. defamation law against transnational disinformation.
• Owens has publicly dismissed the lawsuit as an unjust attack by France’s first lady and vowed to defend her commentary before a jury.