Candace Owens sued by French President Macron and wife over transgender claims
The defamation lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Delaware Superior Court, is seeking an unspecified amount of damages from Owens, who alleged in an eight-part series called 'Becoming Brigitte' that France's first lady stole another person's identity before transitioning to a woman.
Owens claimed Macron was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her older brother.
She spread the allegations in podcasts, YouTube videos and social media posts, and also sold merchandise promoting the claim.
The Macrons have asked Owens multiple times for retractions since December, but she has continued to repeat the 'outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions,' the lawsuit says.
'These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons ... (subjecting them) to a campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies,' the suit states. 'Owens has dissected 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 is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale.'
The complaint includes 22-counts against Owens and her business entities. The Macrons claim she published her defamatory statements with 'actual malice,' meaning she recklessly and knowingly released false information.
In response to the lawsuit, Owens indicated she has no plans to retract her statements or stop spreading her allegations.
'This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist,' a spokesperson for Owens said, according to CBS News. 'Candace repeatedly requested an interview with Brigitte Macron. Instead of offering a comment, Brigitte is resorting to trying to bully a reporter into submission. In France, politicians can bully journalists, but this is not France. It's America.'
Owens also posted about the lawsuit on her Instagram Story, captioning a photo of the Macrons with 'I will be coming for this wig today. Stay tuned.'
The Macrons sued two French women for spreading similar claims in 2022. The women were acquitted and the case is now headed to a higher court on appeal.
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