
Candace Owens sued by French President Emanuel Macron, his wife for claiming Brigitte Macron was born a man who groomed her allegedly gay husband
The Paris power couple accused Owens — who has stirred controversy for spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories — of pushing fictions that Mrs. Macron 'was born a man, stole another person's identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte,' according to the 200-page complaint filed in a Delaware.
Brigitte Macron, 72, was a 39-year-old school teacher when she became the future French leader's educator — when he was 15 — in 1993. The pair have been married for nearly two decades after getting hitched in 2007.
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4 French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit in a Delaware court against controversial podcaster Candace Owens.
via REUTERS
In January, Owens ran an eight-part podcast series that obsessed over their May-December romance, according to the complaint
'I believe that Emmanuel Macron is a homosexual man that was groomed from his youth,' Owens said in one of the episodes.
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'I believe the individual who groomed him is now his wife. I believe that his wife was born Jean‑Michel Trogneux and transitioned in his early thirties, and I believe that the entire state is colluding to protect that secret.'
4 The 200-page defamation complaint catalogs what it calls the most extreme allegations made by Owens about the Macrons.
Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
'And like I said, I would stake my entire professional career on all of those points.'
The lawsuit also cited statements made by Owens on her podcast that claimed 'Mrs. Macron and President Macron are blood relatives committing incest' and that 'President Macron was chosen to be the president of France as part of the CIA‑operated MKUltra program or a similar mind‑control program.'
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MKUltra was a covert, illegal CIA program that conducted extensive human experiments to research mind control, interrogation methods and psychological manipulation. The agency closed down the program in 1973.
Another statement cited in the lawsuit quotes Owens as saying that the Macrons 'are committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets.'
Owens also used social media to accuse President Macron of violating the law.
She posted on X: 'Emmanuel Macron married a man. Which was illegal at the time that he did it.'
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She separately posted: 'Because his marriage was an illegal act. Emmanuel Macron broke the law when he married his groomer.'
4 Owens has claimed that Brigitte Macron was born a man and that she 'groomed' her husband.
Eliot Blondet-Pool/SIPA/Shutterstock
A spokesperson for Owens told The Post that the podcaster would address the lawsuit during her upcoming broadcast at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The Post has sought comment from the Macrons' lawyers.
In 2021, the French first lady sued two women for libel in France after they spread claims on social media and YouTube that she was born a man.
A lower French court found the two women liable for defamation and awarded damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother in 2023.
Earlier this month, the Paris Appeals Court overturned those convictions, accepting a 'good faith' defense and ruling the statements not actionable, which nullified the damages award.
4 Owens, formerly of the Daily Wire, has been accused of antisemitism over comments she has made about Jews and Israel.
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Brigitte Macron and her brother have appealed to the Court of Cassation, France's highest appellate court, where the case remains pending.
Owens is no stranger to controversy. She has repeatedly courted outrage with antisemtic remarks minimizing Hitler's ambitions as well as defending Kanye West's tweets.
She has also amplified a grab‑bag of conspiracy theories such as questioning the moon landing and promoting COVID‑19 vaccine misinformation.

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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Rubio slams Macron's plan to recognize Palestinian state
Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed Emmanuel Macron after the French president said on Thursday that France would recognize Palestinian statehood, arguing it will only assist Hamas and downgrade prospects of reaching a peace deal between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. 'The United States strongly rejects @EmmanuelMacron's plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the @UN general assembly,' Rubio said in a Thursday evening statement on X. 'This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.' Macron said the decision is part of a commitment to a 'just and lasting peace' in the Middle East and that he will make the announcement before the United Nations General Assembly in September. 'The French people want peace in the Middle East. It is our responsibility — as French citizens, alongside Israelis, Palestinians, and our European and international partners — to prove that peace is possible,' Macron said. So far, 146 countries have recognized the Palestinian state. France became the first member of the Group of Seven (G7) to do so. Macron's announcement came the same day as the discussion between Israel and Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, about forging a ceasefire and releasing the hostages fell apart. Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East envoy, hammered Hamas, saying the group lacks the 'desire' to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. 'We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,' Witkoff said in a statement. 'It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way. We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza.' On Thursday, as part of the announcement, Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in the war-torn enclave, for all of the hostages held by Hamas to be freed and for the aid flowing into Gaza to increase. Israel has pushed against the international recognition of the Palestinian state, especially at the UN. Marcon, who said he got unnamed commitments from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that made the announcement possible, was also criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became,' Netanyahu said Thursday on X. 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let's be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.'


CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
CIA Director Ratcliffe "strongly supports" Gabbard declassification of sensitive documents, agency says
CIA Director John Ratcliffe "strongly supports the public release" this week of highly sensitive documents by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to a CIA spokesperson, who said Ratcliffe "initiated" the declassification process after he took the helm at the agency this year. Gabbard's office publicly released a report drafted in 2017 by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee on Russian activity during the 2016 election, sparking concerns about risks to sensitive sources and methods. She said Wednesday that the document contained additional evidence that Obama administration officials "manufactured" a narrative about Russia's actions that was designed to undercut President Trump. Gabbard also declassified a swath of documents related to the 2016 election last Friday. "CIA Director Ratcliffe strongly supports the public release of HPSCI's report, which was the result of a process initiated by CIA and led by DNI Gabbard," the CIA spokesperson said, using an abbreviation for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "This effort reflects Director Ratcliffe's continued commitment to elevating the truth and bringing transparency to the American people and would not have been possible without his directive to return it to the committee," the spokesperson added. The House report, which the committee's Republican staff finalized in December 2017 but updated through 2020, was so highly classified that it was stored at CIA headquarters before Ratcliffe sent it back to the House panel and ultimately toward public release, CBS News has learned. The committee made it available to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, according to an ODNI official with knowledge of the declassification process. Gabbard would normally have been required to consult with the intelligence agencies that had contributed sensitive information to the report before declassifying it, but Mr. Trump — who made the decision to declassify the document with relatively few redactions — was not under the same obligations, the official said. The report was written in large part by then-committee staffer Kash Patel, now the FBI director, according to one current and one former official. It contained discussions about raw intelligence from a CIA source the agency had recruited in Russia, and questioned whether analysts had sufficiently taken into account the source's motivations, proximity to Putin or potential bias towards Mr. Trump. The CIA source's information helped inform the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, or ICA, which concluded in part that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government aspired to help then-candidate Donald Trump's election chances by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him. The U.S. exfiltrated a CIA asset from Russia in 2017, CBS News previously confirmed. That judgment within the ICA has vexed Mr. Trump for years and has been a key focus of Gabbard's recent declassifications. Gabbard has claimed the documents released by her office reveal a "treasonous conspiracy" by Obama-era officials to undermine Mr. Trump during his first term by alleging Russian efforts to help him win in 2016. Gabbard says she has forwarded the records to the Justice Department as part of a criminal referral. Obama's spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush called Gabbard's accusations "bizarre" and "ridiculous" earlier this week. The ICA's judgement about Russian actions in 2016 was also the focus of a recent CIA internal review under Ratcliffe. Released earlier this month, that review contained far fewer of the sensitive details included in the House Republicans' report and said the judgment on Putin's preference for Trump should have been issued with moderate rather than high confidence. But it said it did not dispute the "quality and credibility" of the information. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner, called the release of the House committee's report by Gabbard "desperate and irresponsible." He said it put highly sensitive sources at risk and could disincentivize potential spies from working for the U.S. government. "Tell me how you're going to recruit somebody to, in one of our adversarial nations, maybe work with us, if that information is carelessly thrown around," Warner said to reporters on Wednesday. Ratcliffe, who previously served on the House Intelligence Committee as a congressman from Texas, has said one of his primary objectives as CIA director would be to reinvigorate intelligence collection from human sources. Current and former national security officials have said intelligence provided by human sources, known as HUMINT, has dropped off in recent years, as surveillance technologies have become more sophisticated and ubiquitous. Human sources — especially those with proximity to world leaders in adversarial countries like Russia, China and North Korea — are especially prized and especially rare, given how risky, if not life-threatening, it can be for them to provide information to a foreign intelligence agency. Information provided by human sources typically remains classified for decades, often up to 75 years, according to government classification rules. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Ratcliffe said the recruitment of human spies by the CIA is "not where it needs to be." "I do want to spend time looking at that," he said. The CIA has recently released recruitment videos in multiple languages with the aim of enticing potential human sources in Iran, China and Russia to come He and James LaPorta contributed to this report.

2 hours ago
As mass starvation looms in Gaza, European leaders to hold emergency meeting
The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy will hold an emergency call on Friday to talk about the deteriorating conditions in Gaza as more than 100 aid groups warn mass starvation is fast approaching, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday. "The suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible. While the situation has been grave for some time, it has reached new depths and continues to worsen. We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe," Starmer said. "We will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace. We all agree on the pressing need for Israel to change course and allow the aid that is desperately needed to enter Gaza without delay," Starmer said. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, "It is essential to build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and enable it, by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, to contribute to the security of all in the Middle East." "There must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. It is also necessary to ensure the demilitarization of Hamas, secure and rebuild Gaza," Macron continued. Macron said he would make the official announcement at the U.N. in September. Starmer signaled the same British support. "We are clear that statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. A ceasefire will put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis," Starmer said. Israel condemned France's decision, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, "Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel -- not to live in peace beside it. Let's be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel." The U.S. State Department rejected the idea that Israel -- and by extension the U.S. -- is weaponizing aid to Palestinians in Gaza amid rising criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian groups. "This humanitarian conflict lies at the feet of Hamas, who could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages and laying down their arms," State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Thursday. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said "there is no famine" in Gaza, in an online briefing Wednesday. Mencer blamed Hamas and called the food crisis in Gaza "a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas." Pigott touted the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation -- though its distribution sites are in limited areas in Gaza and aid groups say the supplies provided through the GHF is not nearly enough to address the crushing need. The U.N. and other aid organizations have refused to collaborate with the group, citing concerns about its transparency and political impartiality. "This is over 1000 plus since the 27th of May when the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started distributing food and people have been shot both while trying to collect food in these distribution centers where Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distributes, but also when there have been UN convoys and other aid convoys getting into Gaza and people have tried to jump on those trucks and have been shot and killed," Ajith Sunghay, from the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. "Ultimately, what we have seen us do is deliver close to 90 million meals into Gaza during the war zone, [and] the ability to deliver that aid in a way where it is not being looted by Hamas," he said. "We want to see an end to the devastation that has taken place in Gaza. That's why we have seen this commitment to get aid to the people who need it in a way where it is not weaponized by Hamas. That commitment remains. It is a commitment from President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio. That is why we have supported the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation," Pigott said. Pigott said the administration was continuing to call on "other entities to step up in working through this mechanism in order to deliver aid to the people of Gaza without it being looted by Hamas." More than 1,000 people have also been killed by Israeli gunfire near aid distribution sites in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Most of those are operated by GHF, which opened its aid distribution sites on May 27. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement earlier this month, its troops fired near crowds "in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them," though it wasn't specific. Israeli officials have long accused Hamas of seizing humanitarian goods and selling them to fund militant activity. Hamas denies those claims.