French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are set to submit scientific documents and image evidence in the court to prove that the first lady of France was a woman. The couple’s lawyer said the proof will be submitted in a defamation case filed by them against US conservative influencer Candace Owens, who claimed that Brigitte was born male.
Speaking on BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, the couple’s lawyer said Brigitte found the claim "incredibly upsetting" and they were a "distraction" to the French 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," the lawyer said.
Macron couple’s defamation case against Owens
The defamation case against Owens was filed by the Macron couple last month. Speaking to CNN, their lawyer, Tom Clare, said the lawsuit filed in Delaware was “truly a last option” after trying for a year to communicate with Owens and urge her to “do the right thing: be honest and stop spreading falsehoods.”
“Each time we've done that, she mocked the Macrons, she mocked our efforts to set the record straight. Enough is enough, it was time to hold her accountable,” Clare said.
Owens responds over lawsuit
In a YouTube video, Owens described the lawsuit as an “obvious and desperate public relations strategy” and referred to the first lady as “a very goofy man.”
Owens is a political commentator with right-leaning views and runs a YouTube channel with around 4.5 million subscribers.
Conspiracy theories on Brigitte’s gender
In France, conspiracy theories have circulated for years, claiming that Brigitte Macron was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux and later transitioned. In reality, Jean-Michel Trogneux is Brigitte Macron’s brother.
In September last year, Brigitte and her brother won a defamation case against two women who had spread these false claims online. A Paris court ordered the women to pay fines and damages.
