French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, have filed a defamation lawsuit against an American influencer in a U.S. court. The influencer, who has millions of followers, made false claims such as 'Brigitte was born a man.'
According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 23rd (local time), the Macron couple demanded a jury trial and punitive damages in a 218-page complaint, stating that 'an American influencer named Candace Owens has continuously spread false information about the couple, causing serious harm to their honor and privacy.'
Owens raised allegations on her YouTube and Instagram accounts that President Macron and Brigitte are actually related by blood and that President Macron is a product of human experimentation by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or a government-led mind control program.
The rumor that Brigitte was originally male has spread on social media since President Macron was first elected in 2017. The Macron couple stated in a statement, 'We concluded that the only remaining option was to bring the case to court because Owens continued to make false claims despite repeated requests for correction from our lawyers.'
Brigitte sued two French women who consistently raised this conspiracy theory for defamation; however, the first and second trials reached conflicting judgments. Following the recent appellate court decision that acquitted the two women, Brigitte has appealed to the Supreme Court.
The couple's lawyer said they are willing to travel to Delaware, where the lawsuit was filed, to attend the trial if necessary.