French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, intend to submit scientific and photographic evidence in a US court as part of a defamation lawsuit against right-wing commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly claimed that the first lady was born male, according to a BBC report published Thursday.
Owens’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Speaking on the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, the couple’s lawyer, Tom Clare, said the claims had been “incredibly upsetting” for Brigitte Macron and served as a “distraction” for the French president.
“I don’t want to suggest that it somehow has thrown him off his game. But just like anybody who is juggling a career and a family life as well, when your family is under attack, it wears on you. And he’s not immune from that because he’s the president of a country,” Clare said.
The legal case will include expert testimony of a scientific nature, Clare added, though he did not specify the type of evidence. He said the Macrons were prepared to submit proof both in general terms and in detail to counter the allegations.
Brigitte Macron prepared to testify publicly
“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself to put this type of proof forward,” he said. “It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way. But she’s willing to do it. She is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight.”
According to Clare, photographs of Brigitte Macron’s pregnancies and family life will be submitted in court in accordance with evidentiary rules.
Owens, a former commentator for the conservative US outlet Daily Wire, has a large social media following and has repeatedly insisted that she believes the claim is true. In March 2024, she said she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on the allegation.
The conspiracy theory began in fringe online spaces and gained traction in 2021 through a YouTube video published by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey. The Macrons initially won a defamation suit against the bloggers in France in 2024, but that ruling was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom-of-expression grounds. The couple is appealing that decision.
In July, they filed a new defamation suit against Owens in the United States, accusing her of ignoring credible evidence that disproved the allegation and of promoting conspiracy theories. Under US law, public figures pursuing defamation claims must prove “actual malice,” meaning that the defendant either knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
President Macron explained the legal action in an August interview with Paris Match, stating: “This is about defending my honour! Because this is nonsense. This is someone who knew full well that she had false information and did so with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established connections to far-right leaders.”
Owens’s legal team has argued that the case should not be heard in Delaware, where it was filed, claiming the state has no connection to her business interests and that proceeding there would cause substantial financial and operational difficulties.
The BBC said it had contacted Owens’s attorneys for comment.