A Delaware judge has dismissed conservative commentator Candace Owens from a defamation lawsuit brought by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, over allegations that Owens spread false claims about the French first lady's gender and personal history. The lawsuit will continue against two companies associated with Owens, although a separate ruling on French filing deadlines could threaten the remaining claims.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Sheldon K. Rennie ruled on October 27, 2026, that Owens' connections to Delaware were insufficient to establish jurisdiction over her personally. Her companies, Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc., remain defendants because both are incorporated in the state.
The Macrons sued Owens and her businesses in July 2025, accusing the commentator of spreading false claims that Brigitte Macron was born male, that the couple are blood relatives, and that they used government influence to conceal details of their relationship. The lawsuit alleges Owens promoted the accusations through podcasts, social media and merchandise sales to attract viewers and generate revenue.
Owens expanded on the allegations in her eight-part podcast series, Becoming Brigitte, released between January and February 2025. The Macrons claim she continued making false statements about the French first lady's identity and personal history despite receiving demands to retract them.
Owens has defended her reporting and rejected the allegations. Following the ruling, she characterized the lawsuit as an extreme overreach by a foreign government leader.
Rennie found that Owens' management of Delaware-incorporated businesses did not establish sufficient grounds to sue her individually in the state. He also determined that the Macrons' attorneys had failed to properly serve her under the Delaware laws they cited to establish jurisdiction.
The judge reached a different conclusion regarding her companies, rejecting their attempt to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that Delaware was an inconvenient forum. Both businesses operate from Nashville but are incorporated in Delaware, and Rennie found they had failed to demonstrate the overwhelming hardship required to justify dismissal.
Owens and her companies also argued that the Macrons filed their lawsuit too late under French law, which ordinarily requires defamation claims to be brought within three months of publication. Delaware generally allows two years, but a state law requires courts to apply a shorter deadline from another jurisdiction in certain disputes.
Rennie found that France had the strongest connection to the alleged reputational harm because the Macrons live there and the accusations concern their public standing in France. He determined that French filing deadlines govern the dispute.
The Macrons argued that a separate French provision gives them one year to pursue defamation claims involving sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. Rennie ordered additional arguments on whether that longer period applies to their allegations.
Owens began making the disputed statements in March 2024, launched Becoming Brigitte in January 2025 and continued discussing the couple before the Macrons filed their lawsuit on July 23, 2025. The timing of individual statements could determine which allegations fall within the applicable filing period.
Attorneys for the Macrons welcomed the decision allowing claims against the companies to proceed and said they were considering options to hold Owens personally accountable.
Rennie ordered the remaining parties to submit additional briefs addressing whether France's three-month filing deadline or its one-year exception applies to the Macrons' allegations. The court will then determine whether the remaining defamation claims were filed on time.
