Emmanuel Macron, wife to present scientific evidence to prove France's First Lady is a woman
French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron are preparing to present “photographic and scientific evidence” in their defamation case against US far-right commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly promoted false claims that Macron is a transgender woman.
The couple sued Owens in July after she alleged that France’s first lady was born male, originally named Jean-Michel Trogneux, and had “groomed” a teenage Emmanuel Macron before transitioning.
In an interview with the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons’ lawyer, Tom Clare of the firm Clare Locke, said Macron found the allegations “incredibly upsetting” and a “distraction” for the 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.
He confirmed that expert testimony, “scientific in nature,” would be presented in court, along with photographic evidence, including pictures of Brigitte Macron being pregnant and raising her children.
"These folks are obviously important on the world stage, but they're also human beings. It's offensive and hurtful to them to be accused of effectively criminal acts and conspiring to lie to the world about their identities," he added.
Brigitte Macron, 72, is a mother of three. She met her husband, who is 24 years her junior, when he was her student at a high school in Amiens, northern France.
The allegations against her can be traced back to fringe conspiracy theories that were amplified in a 2021 YouTube video by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey.
The Macrons initially won a defamation suit against the bloggers in 2024, but that verdict was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom of expression grounds.
Owens, 36, who has more than six million Instagram followers, has repeatedly claimed she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on the allegation.
Clare said his team’s investigation uncovered “strong connections between Owens and the French far-right,” raising concerns about her influence.
"She's got a significant audience — not just her listeners on her podcast, but also mainstream media reports cite her when reporting on this false story," he noted.
The defamation case is expected to test how far courts can go in weighing freedom of speech against the spread of disinformation targeting public figures.
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