Macrons Fire Back at Candace Owens: Defamation Lawsuit Rocks Social Media.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have filed a defamation lawsuit against US right-wing influencer Candace Owens over her false claims that Brigitte Macron was born male. Owens allegedly spread these claims through an eight-part podcast series titled “Becoming Brigitte,” which gained millions of views online.
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, accuses Owens of waging a “campaign of global humiliation” and “relentless bullying” against the Macrons, with 22 counts of defamation, false light, and defamation by implication. The couple seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, claiming Owens’ actions were designed to promote her podcast and expand her fan base rather than seek truth.
Owens has responded to the lawsuit, claiming it’s an attack on her First Amendment rights. Her spokesperson said, “Candace Owens is not shutting up. This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist.” However, the Macrons maintain they gave Owens multiple opportunities to retract her statements, but she refused .
To prevail in the lawsuit, the Macrons will need to prove that Owens acted with “actual malice” in spreading false information, a high legal threshold requiring proof that she knew her statements were false or showed reckless disregard for the truth. This case may set a precedent for how public figures handle defamation cases involving social media and online influencers ².
