French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron plan to present photographic and scientific evidence to a US court to prove the first lady is a woman, the BBC reports.
Their lawyer has said the French president and first lady will present documentary evidence in a defamation case they are bringing against American far-right influencer Candace Owens. Owens created an eight-episode podcast called “Becoming Brigette” in which the influencer has promoted conspiracy theories about the Macron couple, including the idea that Mrs Macron is biologically male.
Owens’ lawyers have responded to the case by asking for it to be dismissed.
Macron’s lawyer Tom Clare told the BBC’s Fame Under Fire that Owens’ statements had deeply upset the French first lady and that the president considered them a nuisance. While the lawyer stressed that it was impossible to say that the information disseminated by the American had derailed the president. However, it did, as it does for anyone who combines a career with a family life, have an impact.
Clare said the court would receive expert testimony, which would be scientific in nature. The couple were also prepared to fully demonstrate that Owens’ allegations were false. “It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way. But she’s willing to do it. She is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight,” the lawyer said of the French first lady.
Asked whether Macron would also submit photos showing Mrs. Macron’s pregnancy and child-rearing process to the court, Clare said that such photos exist and can be submitted to the court.
Owens, a former commentator for the conservative US media outlet Daily Wire, has millions of followers on social media and
has repeatedly voiced the opinion that Brigitte Macron is a man.
In March 2024, she claimed that she could put her entire professional reputation on the line for this claim.
However, Owens is far from the first to popularize this theory. In 2021, a video of French bloggers circulated in remote corners of the Internet, for which Macron later filed a defamation lawsuit. In 2024, the president and his wife won the case, but in 2025, the verdict was overturned on freedom of speech grounds. The Macrons have filed an appeal.
Macron filed the lawsuit in Delaware in July. The French president said the issue had become so widespread in the US that he had to respond, and that it was a matter of respect for justice. The indictment alleges that Owens is spreading rumors to promote her platform, gain recognition and make a profit.
The BBC has also asked Owens’ lawyers for comment. She has previously said she believes what she said is true, and that there is nothing more American than freedom of speech and the right to criticize.
Read also: Macron sues right-wing commentator