Podcaster Candace Owens was slapped with a defamation lawsuit Wednesday by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, for claiming that the first lady was born a male who groomed her allegedly gay husband.
The Paris power couple accused Owens of pushing a conspiracy theory that Mrs. Macron “was born a man, stole another person’s identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte,” according to the 200-page complaint filed in Delaware.
Owens’ claims are similar to those made in France by two women whom Brigitte Macron sued in 2021. That case was initially ruled in the French first lady’s favor but has been overturned on appeal. She has now taken the case to France’s highest appeals court.
Brigitte Macron, 72, was a 39-year-old school teacher when she became the future French leader’s educator — when he was 15 — in 1993. The pair have been married for nearly two decades after getting hitched in 2007.
In January, Owens — who has stirred controversy for spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories — ran an eight-part podcast series that obsessed over their May-December romance, according to the complaint.
“I believe that Emmanuel Macron is a homosexual man that was groomed from his youth,” Owens said in one of the episodes.
“I believe the individual who groomed him is now his wife. I believe that his wife was born Jean‑Michel Trogneux and transitioned in his early 30s, and I believe that the entire state is colluding to protect that secret.”
“And like I said, I would stake my entire professional career on all of those points.”
The lawsuit also cited statements made by Owens on her podcast that claimed “Mrs. Macron and President Macron are blood relatives committing incest” and that “President Macron was chosen to be the president of France as part of the CIA‑operated MKUltra program or a similar mind‑control program.”
MKUltra was a covert, illegal CIA program that conducted extensive human experiments to research mind control, interrogation methods and psychological manipulation. The agency closed down the program in 1973.
Another statement cited in the lawsuit quotes Owens as saying that the Macrons “are committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets.”
Owens also used social media to accuse President Macron of violating the law.
She posted on X: “Emmanuel Macron married a man. Which was illegal at the time that he did it.”
She separately posted: “Because his marriage was an illegal act. Emmanuel Macron broke the law when he married his groomer.”
A spokesperson for Owens told The Post that the podcaster would address the lawsuit during her upcoming broadcast at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.
The Post has sought comment from the Macrons’ lawyers.
In 2021, the French first lady sued two women for libel in France after they spread claims on social media and YouTube that she was born a man.
A lower French court found the two women liable for defamation and awarded damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother in 2023.
Earlier this month, the Paris Appeals Court overturned the decision, accepting a “good faith” defense and ruling the statements not actionable, which nullified the damages award.
Brigitte Macron and her brother have appealed to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest appellate court, where the case remains pending.
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