Why did Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte sue Candace Owens? Drama explained

French President Emmanuel Macron, along with his wife, Brigitte, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens.

The controversial rightwing commentator now stands accused of orchestrating several online attacks against Brigitte in the lawsuit filed this Wednesday, July 23, in Delaware, The Guardian has reported. The couple is accusing Owens of trying to boost her public standing and gain more money by doing so.

Just last year, Candace Owens dropped a bombshell YouTube video claiming that she would “stake [her] entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man." In the months since then, she has doubled down on these allegations, and even launched an eight-part series called Becoming Brigitte. The lawsuit also says she sold merchandise promoting these claims.

“Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust,” the complaint states, per CNN.

Candace Owens' legal struggles with Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron explored:

Per CNN, Candace Owens now stands accused of launching “a relentless year-long campaign of defamation against the Macrons," a statement from Tom Clare, the attorney representing the Macrons, reads. The pair is now suing for punitive damages and “substantial economic damages,” which reportedly include the loss of any potential business ventures.

"These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons," the suit states, per CBS News. Owens and her entities have "subjected the Macrons to a campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies. Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history—twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade. The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale."

This Wednesday, Candace Owens took to her Instagram to share a screenshot of an article that referenced the lawsuit and captioned it,

“I will be coming for this wig today. Stay tuned.”

CBS News has reported that in total, the complaint lists 22 counts, and in the lawsuit, the Macrons said that the podcaster turned down three separate demands to retract her videos and claims. The first was dated December, and the last, July. However, she chose to issue "outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions" about the Macrons, the lawsuit states.

"These claims are demonstrably false, and Owens knew they were false when she published them," the lawsuit goes on. "Yet, she published them anyway. And the reason is clear: it is not the pursuit of truth, but the pursuit of fame."

In a lawsuit, Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte said that they decided to pursue charges after Candace Owens continued to maintain her claims, despite their lawyers asking that she retract them.

"Ms. Owens' campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety," they said. "We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused. It is our earnest hope that this lawsuit will set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all."

A spokesperson for Candace Owens has since issued a response:

"Candace Owens is not shutting up. This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist. Candace repeatedly requested an interview with Brigitte Macron. Instead of offering a comment, Brigitte is resorting to trying to bully a reporter into submission. In France, politicians can bully journalists, but this is not France. It's America."

She also took to her YouTube channel on Wednesday afternoon to declare publicly that she would not be backing down from her claims:

"This is why you're here," Owens said. "This is how I feel right now. Me receiving my papers today," she added, referring to a clip from "Gladiator" where Russel Crowe's character says, "Are you not entertained?"

She went on,

"If you read through this ... Brigitte actually and intentionally defames me throughout the filing. It says all these things are untrue, attributes quotations to me that I've never said."

Emmanuel Macron has been serving as the president of France since 2017. He has been married to Brigitte since 2007. As for Candace Owens, in her personal life, she is married to George Farmer, who is a House of Lords peer and former Conservative Party treasurer, BBC News has reported.

Back in March 2024, Emmanuel Macron addressed the rumor about his wife head-on, noting that the worst part of being the president was the burden of dealing with “the false information and fabricated stories.”

“People end up believing them, and it disrupts your life, even in your most private moments,” Macron said.

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

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