Latest news with #BrigitteMacron
Graziadaily
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Graziadaily
Who Is Brigitte Macron And Why Is She Suing Candace Owens?
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife Brigitte Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit against the right-wing influencer Candace Owens, after she claimed that the first lady was born a man. The legal action was filed on Wednesday in Delaware in the US, and said that Owens has been sharing 'outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions' to help grow her audience and make her money. The pair said the claims caused 'pain to us and our families'. Owens has repeated the claims on her podcast and on social media channels. If you've got questions, we'll try our best to answer them... The commentator has repeatedly shared claims that Ms Macron was born a man, and after saying in 2024 she would 'stake [her] entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man', released an eight-part podcast series called Becoming Brigitte, the lawsuit alleges. The suit also alleges that the Macrons asked for retractions, but instead she 'mocked them and used them as additional fodder for her frenzied fan base'. In a statement, the couple said, 'Ms Owens' campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety.' The BBC reports that the claim that Brigitte Macron was born a man has existed online in fringe circles for years, claiming she went by Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is her brother's name. Owens spread this conspiracy to her nearly seven million followers on X. Brigitte Macron is a former French teacher and the first lady of France. She married Emmanuel Macron in 2007, after meeting him at a high school (Le Providence, a Catholic school in northern France) when he was a student and she was a teacher. They have a 25-year age gap. She was a 39-year-old drama teacher at the time and he was 15. When his parents found out the following year that they had begun a relationship, they sent him away to boarding school. 'Emmanuel had to leave for Paris,' she told Paris Match . 'I told myself that he would fall in love with someone his [own] age. It didn't happen.' While they kept in touch over the years, Brigitte was married to someone else with whom she had three children around Macron's age. Speaking on their age gap, she told France's RTL radio station, 'We are not a model couple. Of course we are not the ideal couple. Being a couple is complicated, it's an everyday struggle (...) When you have a big age difference, it can be even more complicated.' The pair made headlines earlier this year when a video went viral showing Brigitte appearing to slap the president in the face. According to ABC News, Macron played down the incident, saying, 'We are bickering and joking with my wife and a video becomes a sort of geoplanetary catastrophe.' Candace Owens is a right-wing commentator known for working at Turning Point, a student conservative publication, and conservative media outlet Daily Wire before launching her own podcast in 2024. She's been embroiled in multiple controversies including criticisms of Black Lives Matter and spreading conspiracies including that the moon landing was faked. She is married to George Farmer, a British-American entrepreneur. His father is a House of Lords peer and former Conservative Party treasurer, Baron Michael Farmer.
Russia Today
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Candace Owens responds to Macrons' lawsuit over transgender allegations
American commentator Candace Owens has vowed to fight a defamation lawsuit filed by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, after the conservative Youtuber repeatedly claimed the first lady was transgender. The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in a US court, accuses Owens of spreading 'false and defamatory claims' - including that Brigitte Macron was born male, that the couple are blood relatives, and that Emmanuel Macron is a product of a CIA mind control program. According to the filing, the allegations were made 'to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money,' and amounted to 'relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.' In a video posted to her YouTube channel on Wednesday, Owens shared a message intended for Brigitte Macron with her 4.5 million subscribers: 'You were born a man and you'll die a man,' adding that she is 'fully prepared to take on this battle on behalf of the entire world' and that she will see the French president's spouse in court. The Macrons filed a 219-page lawsuit in the US state of Delaware earlier in the day, alleging 22 counts of defamation against Owens. The complaint includes 99 pages of factual claims and evidence such as Brigitte Macron's childhood photos, birth records, and documentation of her three children with her first husband. The document says Owens has turned the couple's life 'into fodder for profit-driven lies.' Suing the podcaster was 'the last resort,' as she ignored all requests to stop her activities, Macron's lead counsel Tom Clare told CNN. Owens has repeatedly attacked Mrs. Macron on social media. In 2024, she posted a video titled 'Is France's First Lady a Man?' Earlier this year, she shared an investigation called 'Becoming Brigitte.' The rumors about Brigitte date back to 2021, when Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey posted a four-hour video alleging she was born a man. However, this July, the Paris Appeals Court overturned the fines put on the bloggers following Mrs. Macron's 2022 lawsuit. The court ruled out the women acted in 'good faith' and that their allegations were an expression of belief.
News18
20 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
Macron Sues US Podcaster Over ‘Grotesque' Claim That French President's Wife Is A Man
French President Macron and First Lady Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens over false claims about Brigitte's gender. French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative American influencer Candace Owens, accusing her of spreading baseless and deeply offensive claims about Brigitte Macron's gender identity to boost her podcast's reach and profile. The lawsuit alleged that Candace Owens launched a 'campaign of global humiliation" centered around the false claim that Brigitte Macron was born male under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux- the name of her older brother. The Macrons claimed that Candace Owens used this narrative to 'dissect 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 result," the complaint read, 'is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale." Rare Lawsuit by A Head Of State The legal action is a rare move by a sitting world leader, particularly one filed in the US, where defamation cases involving public figures face an extremely high legal bar. To win, the Macrons must prove that Candace Owens acted with 'actual malice"- that she knowingly spread false information or showed reckless disregard for the truth. The lawsuit also noted that speculation about Brigitte Macron's gender surfaced online in 2021 and has since been amplified on right-wing platforms, including podcasts hosted by Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan. Candace Owens Calls Lawsuit 'Desperate PR Strategy' In response, Candace Owens denied being notified in advance about the suit, though court filings said that lawyers from both sides have been in contact since January. Speaking on her podcast, Candace Owens dismissed the lawsuit as 'littered with factual inaccuracies" and described it as an 'obvious and desperate public relations strategy" meant to smear her character. A spokesperson for Candace Owens accused the Macrons of trying to 'bully" her and cast the lawsuit as a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist. In a joint statement released through their lawyers, the Macrons said they had issued three formal demands for Candace Owens to retract her defamatory claims before pursuing legal action. 'Ms. Owens's campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety," the statement said, adding, 'We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused." Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
French President Emmanuel Macron and Wife Brigitte File Defamation Lawsuit Against Candace Owens
French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens, the conservative influencer and podcaster who claims the first lady was born male. Filed in Delaware on Wednesday, the lawsuit accuses Owens of publishing 'outlandish, defamatory and far-fetched fictions,' causing 'substantial reputational damage' and 'substantial economic damages' to the Macrons in the process, according to the Financial Times. More from Variety Thierry Ardisson, Trailblazing French TV Journalist, Host and Producer Known as the 'Man in Black,' Dies at 76 Ted Sarandos Calls on French President to Add Above-the-Line Costs to Film Incentive at Choose France Event Harvey Weinstein Interviewed by Candace Owens From Prison: Defamed Producer Claims He Was 'Wrongfully Convicted' and Attacks Accusations From Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan The 218 page-court ruling states that along with claiming Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, Owens went on to say that the Macrons are also blood relatives and that Emmanuel Macron is 'a product of a CIA human experiment or a similar government mind control programme,' per the Financial Times. The lawsuit says Owens is responsible for spreading the conspiracy theory in the U.S. and around the world in order 'to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety and make money.' On top of selling some merchandise, she's garnered a social media presence nearing 4.5 million YouTube subscribers with her eight-part series 'Becoming Brigitte' released this year. The filing also says Owens 'ignored multiple attempts by the Macrons to engage,' including a letter that the French President and his wife sent the conservative influencer in December to 'pointedly deny that the president was statutorily raped,' according to the Financial Times. The court document charts the timeline of their relationship which started when Emmanuel Macron was a 15-year-old student at a Catholic high school in Amiens and met Brigitte, who was then a 39-year-old married teacher with three children. Their relationship 'remained within the bounds of the law' for a number of years and the pair eventually got married in 2007 when Emmanuel was 29. The Macrons recently delivered one of the year's biggest viral moments in May after the first lady was seen slapping the French President as the doors of their plane opened as they landed in Vietnam for an official visit. Macron denied having a domestic dispute and said they 'were squabbling,' and 'joking' with each other. Brigitte Macron will be portrayed in a biopic series whose development was announced last year by Gaumont, the company behind the Netflix hit show 'Lupin.' Best of Variety All the Godzilla Movies Ranked Final Oscar Predictions: International Feature – United Kingdom to Win Its First Statuette With 'The Zone of Interest' 'Game of Thrones' Filming Locations in Northern Ireland to Open as Tourist Attractions Solve the daily Crossword
Al Bawaba
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron sue Candace Owens over 'Brigitte Is a Man' claims
Published July 24th, 2025 - 02:01 GMT ALBAWABA - Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron sue Candace Owens over defamation claims. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, sued right-wing podcaster Candace Owens in the US on Wednesday for defamation after she said Brigitte could be a man. The case has 22 counts. A statement from the Macrons' lawyer, Tom Clare, says that the case filed in Delaware Superior Court says Owens has been running "a relentless year-long campaign of defamation against the Macrons." rance's President Emmanuel Macron (R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (L) (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) The complaint says that in March, right-wing commentator Candace Owens brought up an absurd conspiracy theory again in a YouTube video called "Is France's First Lady a Man?" Owens called the conspiracy idea "likely the biggest scandal in political history," and he talked about it a lot on X. 🚨 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.' She's pledging to fight 'on behalf of the entire world,' daring the French First Family to drag this into discovery. — Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) July 24, 2025 Owens has made many videos about Brigitte Macron since then for her almost 4.5 million YouTube fans. One of these is a series called "Becoming Brigitte," which is made up of several videos. The lawsuit also says that she sold things that supported the story. Tom Clare, the Macrons' lawyer, said on Wednesday that they had asked Owens to stop making the claim for about a year and only sued her as a "last resort" when she stopped. According to the lawsuit, Owens was the first person to tell the US media and people around the world about these false claims. The couple is suing for punitive damages and says they have been hurt "substantially economically," which means they have lost business chances in the future. Owens shared a screenshot of a story about the Macrons' lawsuit on Instagram on Wednesday, along with a picture of the couple and the words, "I will be coming for this wig today." 'Watch this space.' Later, she made a video on YouTube in which she called the lawsuit "an obvious and desperate public relations strategy." CNN has tried to get Owens to say something. France's first lady Brigitte Macron (Photo by Mohammed BADRA / POOL / AFP) Brigitte Macron also sued two French women in 2022 for making similar claims. CNN station BFMTV says the women won an appeal this year after winning the first case. The case will now go to a higher court. The statement says Owens was asked to retract her claims along with "incontrovertible evidence disproving her allegations and proving, among other things, that Mrs. Macron was born a woman named Brigitte Trogneux, that she is not a blood relative of President Macron," and that the Macrons are not being manipulated or blackmailed by unknown forces through a program linked to the CIA. The official complaint said that Owens used this false statement to promote her own brand, get attention, and make money. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
