France's Macron reveals why he had to sue far-right podcaster Candace Owens over ‘nonsense' Brigitte conspiracy theory

Independent

8 hours ago

French President Emmanuel Macron sued far-right influencer Candace Owens to combat her 'nonsense' claims about his wife Brigitte Macron, he said in a new interview.
The couple filed a defamation lawsuit last month against Owens over her 'relentless and unjustified smear campaign' falsely accusing Brigitte of being born a man. The Macrons are seeking damages after suing her on 22 counts, including defamation and false light.
In his first remarks about the matter since suing Owens, the French president touched upon the lawsuit in a wide-ranging Paris Match interview that he felt compelled to sue because the false claims have taken on a life of their own in the U.S.
'This has become so widespread in the United States that we had to react,' Macron said in French. 'It's a question of having the truth respected.' The French leader said he will pursue the lawsuit to the end because her allegations were 'nonsense.'
Owens first made the unfounded claim in March 2024 and expanded upon it in her eight-part podcast series called 'Becoming Brigitte,' the complaint filed in Delaware state court alleges. Her lies have caused 'tremendous damage' to the Macrons, the filing says.
The couple was initially advised not to file a complaint against Owens to avoid the"Streisand effect," attracting more attention to a matter by trying to conceal it, the French president told Paris Match. But because of the magnitude of attention the claims have garnered, they felt the need to respond, he said.
Asked about the hostility he and Brigitte have gotten stateside in the wake of Owens' remarks, Macron said: 'It is not freedom of speech to want to prevent the restoration of the truth. Those who talk to you about this so-called freedom of speech are the ones who ban journalists from the Oval Office. I do not accept this.'
Owens' remarks subjected the couple to a 'campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies,' the complaint says.
'The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale. Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust,' the filing states.
The Macrons also took aim at Owens' credibility. The lawsuit accused her of having 'built a brand on provocation, not truth' and 'routinely peddling misinformation under the guise of legitimate reporting,' like promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. She has described the Covid-19 vaccines as 'pure evil.'
The far-right podcaster has emphasized that she 'would stake my entire professional reputation on' these claims targeting Brigitte Macron.
'I am fully prepared to take on this battle,' Owens said after she was sued. 'On behalf of the entire world, I will see you in court.'
A spokesperson for Owens said last month: "This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist.'
Last month, Owens claimed that President Donald Trump personally called her and told her to back off the baseless claims about the French first lady, she told Tucker Carlson.
She alleged the French President flew to D.C., where he urged Trump 'to ask me to shut up, to just stop speaking about his wife,' she told Carlson. Speaking of Trump, she continued: 'He said he was very confused when the leader of France took him aside during negotiations for Ukraine and Russia to inquire about whether or not he knew Candace Owens.'
The U.S. president allegedly said of Brigitte: 'I saw her up close and she looks like a woman to me, I had dinner with her at the top of the Eiffel Tower.'