Macrons Sue Candace Owens Again, Bringing 88 Defamation Claims

French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have filed a new defamation lawsuit against conservative podcaster Candace Owens in Tennessee, accusing her of continuing to spread false claims about their marriage and the first lady's identity while using the controversy to sell merchandise and solicit donations.

The lawsuit, filed November 4, 2026, in federal court in Nashville, brings 88 counts against Owens personally, including defamation, false light, and defamation by implication. The Macrons are seeking monetary damages and a court order restricting further publication of statements found to be defamatory.

The filing comes just over a week after a Delaware judge dismissed Owens individually from an earlier lawsuit because the court lacked jurisdiction over her. The October 27 decision allowed claims against two companies associated with the podcaster to proceed, leaving the Macrons to pursue Owens in Tennessee, where she resides.

In the new complaint, the couple accuses Owens of repeatedly promoting allegations that Brigitte Macron was born male, assumed her brother's identity, and concealed her past. Owens also allegedly claimed that the Macrons are blood relatives and that Emmanuel Macron's rise to power involved a CIA mind-control program.

The accusations were featured in Owens' eight-part podcast series Becoming Brigitte, along with social media posts that the Macrons say reached millions of viewers. According to the complaint, Owens continued publishing the disputed claims after the couple filed their first lawsuit in July 2025.

The Macrons also accuse Owens of generating revenue from the allegations through paid subscriptions, merchandise, and donation solicitations. The complaint describes a doll depicting Brigitte Macron that Owens allegedly displayed during broadcasts to ridicule the first lady's appearance.

The couple argues that Owens knowingly spread false information or acted with reckless disregard for its accuracy, accusing them of deceiving the public and committing crimes to conceal Brigitte Macron's identity. Their complaint makes clear that the alleged defamation concerns accusations of deception and criminal conduct, rather than a person's gender identity or sexual orientation.

Because the Macrons are public figures, they generally must prove that Owens made defamatory statements with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for the truth, a standard known as actual malice.

The couple originally sued Owens, Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc. in Delaware Superior Court. Judge Sheldon Rennie later dismissed Owens personally after finding that her connections to Delaware were insufficient to establish jurisdiction. The ruling addressed where she could be sued rather than the merits of the allegations.

Rennie allowed the claims against the two Delaware-registered companies to continue while seeking further arguments concerning the applicable French statute of limitations.

Owens acknowledged the Tennessee lawsuit in a November 9 post on X, referring to the 88 claims and joking that the doll featured in her content would stop making statements. She has previously characterized the litigation as an attempt by a foreign political leader to financially ruin an American podcaster.

The Macrons have requested a jury trial and are seeking actual, presumed and punitive damages. U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. is overseeing the Tennessee case, where a summons was issued to Owens on November 5. The separate Delaware proceedings against her companies are continuing.