The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Superior Court on 23/7, centers on an 8-part podcast series titled "Becoming Brigitte" by Candace Owens, an American political commentator and influential podcaster in right-wing circles.
According to President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, the podcast disseminated "false and seriously damaging information." Owens alleged that 72-year-old Brigitte Macron had assumed another person's identity and transitioned to female, or that the Macrons were blood relatives.
"Ms. Owens dissected the Macrons’ appearance, marriage, friends, family, and personal history, twisting everything to incite, humiliate, and create a persistent campaign of harassment on a global scale," the lawsuit states.
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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at an event in London on 9/7. Photo: AFP |
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at an event in London on 9/7. Photo: AFP
In a podcast released the same day, Owens denied the allegations, stating that the lawsuit was "riddled with misinformation" and part of a media campaign to smear her reputation.
The 36-year-old Owens added that she was unaware of the lawsuit, despite lawyers for both sides having been in contact since January. Owens has over 6.9 million followers on X and more than 4.5 million subscribers on YouTube.
A spokesperson for Owens called the lawsuit an "attempt to bully" after First Lady Brigitte Macron repeatedly declined Owens' interview requests. "A foreign government is infringing upon the constitutional free speech rights of an independent American journalist," the spokesperson said.
In a joint statement, the Macrons' legal team stated they filed the lawsuit after Owens refused demands to retract the defamatory statements.
"Owens’ defamatory campaign was clearly designed to harass and harm our family, as well as to generate notoriety and attention for herself. We gave Owens every opportunity to retract these statements, but she refused," the Macrons said.
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American podcaster Candace Owens speaks at an event in 2023. Photo: AFP |
American podcaster Candace Owens speaks at an event in 2023. Photo: AFP
At 15, Emmanuel Macron fell in love with his 40-year-old married drama teacher, Brigitte Auziere, at the Providence Catholic school in Amiens in the early 1990s. Her daughter, Laurence, was a classmate of the future French president.
Brigitte Auziere divorced her former husband in 2006. She married Macron in 2007 when she was 54 and he was 29. Their age gap drew public attention after Macron's election.
Duc Trung (According to Reuters, AFP)
