“Scientific” evidence proving that Brigitte Macron is a woman will form part of a defamation case against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, the lawyer for the wife of the French president has said.

The French first couple is suing Owens after she repeatedly pushed the unfounded claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man.

The couple’s lawyer, Tom Clare told the BBC that there would be “expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature” proving that the president’s wife was a woman.

In a legal filing, Owens and her legal team said that the Macrons’ lawsuit was a “politically motivated” attempt to suppress free speech.

Newsweek has contacted Owens outside of office hours.

Why It Matters

Speculation that Brigitte Macron was born a man—specifically under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux—is part of a debunked conspiracy theory that emerged in France in 2021 and has been repeatedly refuted and legally challenged.

But the claims resurfaced this year by Owens in a podcast series, prompting the Macrons to file a defamation lawsuit in Delaware in July accusing her of a “campaign of global humiliation.” The case puts claims of digital misinformation into an international legal forum in which free speech might be debated in a U.S. courtroom.

What To Know

A lawsuit filed on July 23 in the Superior Court in the State of Delaware, accused Owens of pushing a “false statement” that Brigitte Macron was a man, disregarding “all credible evidence disproving her claim.”

Following demands for a retraction, the lawsuit said that Owens hosted a podcast series, titled Becoming Brigitte which along with posts on X, “endorsed, repeated, and published a series of verifiably false and devastating lies about the Macrons.”

“These outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions” included that she was born a man, stole another person’s identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte, the lawsuit said.

Other claims included that the couple were “blood relatives” and that they are “committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets,” the filing added.

The lawyer for the Macrons, Tom Clare told the BBC’s Fame Under Fire podcast that the claims by Owens were “incredibly upsetting” for the couple and that there would be “expert testimony.”

As the plaintiffs, they would have the burden of proving falsity which would include testimony from both Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron as well as, “expert testimony that will be in scientific in nature that will demonstrate the falsity of the statements.”

When asked to specify what this kind of evidence would be, Clare said he was not ready to reveal the details “but we are prepared to demonstrate fully both generically and specifically that what she is saying is false.”

Clare said images of Brigitte Macron pregnant and raising her children existed and would be presented in open court “so everywhere can see in a forum where there are rules and standards.”

Owens and her legal team have hit back at the lawsuit, arguing that it was an attempt to suppress free speech and punish an American journalist for commentary protected under the First Amendment.

Owens’ team called it “a baseless defamation suit against an independent American journalist” and a “transparent ruse orchestrated by plaintiffs’ high-priced public relations firm” the statement said according to the Mail Online.

What People Are Saying

Tom Clare, lawyer for the Macrons, told the BBC about: “expert testimony that will come out that will be scientific in nature” which would show “both generically and specifically” that the allegations are false.

He added: “It is a process that she will have to subject herself to in a very public way … she is firmly resolved to do what it takes to set the record straight.”

Candace Owens’ legal team said in a statement, per the Mail Online: “In contravention of a sacred precept of U.S. Constitutional Law, the President and First Lady of France … have filed a baseless defamation suit against an independent American journalist.”

In March 2024, Owens said she: “would stake [her] entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron [the First Lady of France] is in fact a man.”

What Happens Next

Owens’ legal team wants the case thrown out on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, expiration of France’s statute of limitations, and the legal doctrine of forum “non conveniens” about litigation in a jurisdiction without connection to the dispute.

This adds to anticipation over whether the judge will decide that the case can proceed in Delaware and if dismissed, will the Macrons appeal or refile elsewhere.