Macrons sue right-wing US influencer Candace Owens

The presidential couple are suing in the US state of Delaware against Owens' claim that Brigitte Macron was born a man, among other things.

Owens spread the claim on Platform X and in her podcast in March 2024 because "she knew that the shock value would increase her visibility", according to court documents obtained by several US media outlets. Owens confirmed on her YouTube channel on Thursday night that the Macrons are taking legal action against her.

Owens knowingly used false claims about the Macrons to make money from their platform, the court documents continued. She had responded to the Macrons' requests to withdraw the content with further falsehoods. For example, Owens claimed that Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron were related and that Emmanuel Macron had become President of France with the help of a CIA program.

These allegations made the Macrons the victims of a "global humiliation campaign" that was "invasive, dehumanizing and deeply unfair", according to the complaint, which includes 22 charges. The presidential couple's lawyer told CNN that Owens had been asked for a year to retract the allegations.

The 36-year-old influencer has a wide reach in right-wing circles: Owens has 4.4 million subscribers on YouTube and nearly 7 million on Platform X. In 2024, the Australian government denied Owens entry, citing her spreading false claims about the Holocaust or Muslims.