Conservative influencer Candace Owens is being sued for telling her audience French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte was born a man.
The couple filed a defamation lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court on Wednesday, July 23, according to NBC News. The 22-count complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The Macrons claim Owens has created a “campaign of global humiliation” with “relentless bullying,” all done to promote her podcast.
The heart of the complaint is Owens’ claim that 72-year-old Brigitte Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is the name of her older brother.
“Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications,” their complaint says. “It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust.”
Related: Candace Owens Ousted by Right-Wing Media Network Daily Wire
Owens doubled down on Wednesday’s episode of her podcast and insisted her claims are “a reality.”
“You sent this lawsuit because you wanted to smear me and it’s not going to work. Okay? You’ve met your match,” she said. “I think you’re sick, I think you’re disgusting and I am fully prepared to take on this battle… I will see you in court.”
Besides the claim that Brigitte, 72, is a transgender woman, the lawsuit claims she groomed and statutorily raped the younger Macron, who is now 47 years old, and that the two have abused their power to conceal their allegedly scandalous pasts.
The Associated Press reports the Macrons met at a high school where he was a student and she worked as a teacher. She divorced her previous husband and the two married in 2007.
The AP reports Brigitte has faced conspiracy theories in France as well, claiming she was born a man. She and her brother won a defamation suit last September. A Paris appeals court overturned the ruling, which Brigitte is now appealing.
The U.S. civil suit states that Owens’ claims are demonstrably false and defamatory and alleges that the podcaster knowingly made the allegations in “pursuit of fame.”
The complaint cites photos of a young Brigitte, a newspaper announcement of her birth, and notes that she had three children with her first husband.
To prevail in U.S. defamation cases, public figures like the Macrons must show Owens engaged in “actual malice.” That’s defined as publishing what they knew was false information or had a reckless disregard for its truth.
Beyond her podcast, Owens allegedly monetized her claims about the Macrons by selling merchandise, including a shirt displaying Brigitte Macron on a fake Time magazine “Man of the Year” cover. Owens also produced an eight-part video series titled Becoming Brigitte.
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
About Bruce Haring
You may like these posts
