French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron are preparing to present photographic and scientific evidence in a U.S. court to counter false claims about Brigitte’s gender, their lawyer has said.
The couple filed a defamation lawsuit in July against American right-wing commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly alleged that Brigitte Macron was born male. Owens, a former Daily Wire commentator with millions of followers, has promoted the claim on social media and YouTube despite widespread debunking.
Speaking on the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons’ lawyer, Tom Clare, said the allegations had deeply affected the couple.
“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,” he said.
Mr. Clare said the couple were prepared to submit expert testimony and scientific documentation to disprove the allegations.
“There will be expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature,” he said, adding that while he would not yet reveal the nature of the evidence, it would demonstrate “both generically and specifically” that the claims are false.
“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself, to put this type of proof forward,” Clare added. “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.
“If that unpleasantness and that discomfort that she has of opening herself up in that way is what it takes to set a record straight and stop this, she’s 100% ready to meet that burden.”
Asked if the Macrons would present photos of Brigitte pregnant and raising her children, Clare confirmed such evidence existed and would be introduced in court under legal standards.
Owens has claimed she would stake her “entire professional reputation” on the allegation. The conspiracy theory first emerged in fringe online spaces, notably from a 2021 YouTube video by French bloggers Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey.
The Macrons initially won a defamation case against Roy and Rey in France in 2024, but the ruling was overturned on appeal in 2025 on freedom of expression grounds—not on the merits of the claim. The couple are appealing that decision while pursuing Owens in the U.S.
In an interview with Paris Match in August, Emmanuel Macron explained why they were taking legal action.
“This is about defending my honour! Because this is nonsense. This is someone who knew full well that she had false information and did so with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established connections to far-right leaders.”
Owens’ legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that it should not be heard in Delaware, where the suit was filed, because it does not relate to her businesses incorporated there. They contend that defending the case in Delaware would impose “substantial financial and operational hardship.”
The BBC reported that Owens has previously defended her statements as protected by free speech, saying she believes them to be true.
Under U.S. law, public figures bringing defamation cases must prove “actual malice” — that the defendant knowingly published false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
