Brigitte Macron, first lady of France, will share “photographic and scientific” evidence to a U.S. court that proves she is a woman as part of a defamation suit, according to her attorney in the case.
“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself, to put this type of proof forward,” said attorney Tom Clare in an interview with the BBC’s “Under Fire” podcast.
A complaint uploaded by the Clare Locke law firm shows that it was filed this July in Delaware on behalf of Brigitte and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron. American conservative commenter Candace Owens, Candace Owens LLC and GeorgeTom, Inc. are listed as defendants.
Per the complaint, Owens told “the world she ‘would stake [her] entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron [the First Lady of France] is in fact a man,’” last March. While this rumor had been circulating on the internet for years, the suit noted that Owens has a large follower base, including 6.9 million followers on X and 4.47 million subscribers on YouTube.
“Owens has used this false statement to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money,” said the complaint. “Owens disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favor of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers.”
In addition to making the claim in posts and short videos, the complaint said that Owens made it the subject of a an eight-part podcast series entitled “Becoming Brigitte” following a retraction demand. Owens has falsely claimed that Brigette was born a man, stole a person’s identity and transitioned to become Brigitte, the complaint alleged.
According to her official biography, Brigitte Macron was born on April 13, 1953 in Amiens, France. Owens has claimed that Brigitte was born Jean-Michel Trogneux, PolitiFact reported, though it added that Jean-Michel Trogneux is her brother’s name.
Britannica’s biography of Brigitte states that she married banker André-Louis Auzière in 1974. She had three children with Auzière, a son born in 1975 and two daughters, one born in 1977 and another born in 1984.
“When asked if the Macrons would be supplying pictures of Brigitte pregnant and raising her children, [Clare] said they existed and would be presented in court where there are rules and standards,” said the BBC this week.
Brigitte began a career in education and was teaching at Lycée La Providence in Amiens by 1991. There, she was involved in the school’s theater program. While teaching at the school in 1993 she met Macron, who was 15 at the time.
“The two worked together to adapt the Eduardo De Filippo play ‘The Art of Comedy’ (1964) for a school production and eventually developed romantic feelings,” according to Britannica. “This was controversial at the time, as he was a minor while she was more than twice his age and married with children.”
Macron’s parents even sent him to France due to concerns about the relationship, it added. However, the relationship continued and the pair married in 2007, shortly after Brigitte and Auzière divorced. Brigitte taught until 2015 and has since supported her husband’s political career.
In 2017, a “transparency charter relating to the status of the spouse of the Head of State” was implemented making the spouse of the Head of State a defined role for the first time.
Owens, 36, is from Connecticut and attended the University of Rhode Island for three years to study journalism before leaving to work in New York City,” according to her Blexit website encouraging Black voters to leave the Democratic party. After working in fashion and private equity, Owens launched a website to combat cyberbullying in 2016.
“The effort was met with unexpected controversy,” her site said. “As a result of the pressures and criticism her start-up faced, Candace became more active in the world of politics, particularly in the context of social media being used as a method of political manipulation.”
According to PolitiFact, Owens formerly worked as a host of the Daily Wire conservative media company and spokeswoman for Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
“This is verifiably false,” said Owens in a Thursday X post, citing a New York Post article on the Macron complaint. “She isn’t suing me for saying she’s a man. She has never sued anyone ever for saying she’s a dude. Because she is one.”
Previously, Owens posted a short titled “I Am Being Sued by the President of France” on YouTube.
Her attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the claim from the Macrons, according to the BBC report. They have argued that the case should not have been filed in Delaware, where Owens’ businesses are incorporated and where they claim the case could cause “substantial financial and operational hardship.”
“The BBC has approached Candace Owens’ legal team for a comment,” said the outlet. “She has previously said she believes what she is saying is true and there is nothing more American than free speech and the ability to criticize.”
Clare told the BBC that Brigitte finds Owens’ claims “incredibly upsetting” and said they are “distraction” for the French president. Along with photographic evidence of her gender, Clare said there will be “expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature,” as part of the case. He did not reveal the exact nature of the evidence but said the couple is “prepared to demonstrate fully ‘both generically and specifically’ that the allegations are false.”
“It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way,” Clare said. “But she’s willing to do it. She is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight.”
The Macrons won another defamation case in France regarding a similar claim spread by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey in a 2021 video. That 2024 ruling was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom of expression grounds and the Macrons are now appealing that decision.
In the U.S., PolitiFact noted that conservative political commenters and social media users have also circulated false claims that former First Lady Michelle Obama was once a man despite that claim being debunked.
“Joseph Uscinski, a University of Miami political science professor who has written multiple books about conspiracy theories, said women such as Macron and Obama are targeted because of their status,” said the outlet.