French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are taking their legal battle with conservative podcaster Candace Owens straight to her home turf.
The French first couple filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Owens in Nashville, where she lives, after a Delaware judge ruled last month that the court there lacked jurisdiction over her personally.
The complaint, dated Nov. 4 and filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, runs 409 pages. It centers on Owens’ repeated claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man and assumed another person’s identity.
The suit also takes aim at several other allegations Owens has made, including that the Macrons are blood relatives, that Emmanuel Macron became president of France through MKUltra or a similar mind-control program, and that the couple has committed crimes to cover up what Owens claims is the truth.
According to the complaint, Owens first made the claim about Brigitte Macron in March 2024, when she said she would stake her entire professional reputation on it. She later expanded on the theory in a podcast series titled “Becoming Brigitte,” along with additional episodes and social media posts.
The Macrons allege Owens doubled down on her claims even after they first sued her in Delaware in July 2025. That original 22-count complaint accused the podcaster of subjecting the couple to a campaign of global humiliation in order to grow her audience and make money.
But on Oct. 27, Delaware Superior Court Judge Sheldon Rennie dismissed Owens herself from that case without prejudice, finding the court lacked jurisdiction because she lives in Tennessee. Her two companies, Candace Owens LLC and GeorgeTom Inc., remain defendants there.
At the time, the ruling was seen as a significant win for Owens, potentially shielding her personal assets from any judgment. Owens said she was in the absolute best mood following the decision.
The judge also ruled that France’s statute of limitations should apply in the Delaware case rather than U.S. law, since the Macrons live in Paris, a decision that could put the rest of that case in jeopardy.
The Macrons’ attorneys argue Tennessee is the proper venue because Owens lives in Nashville and allegedly created and published the material from there. The couple is seeking damages, a jury trial and a court order barring Owens from republishing any statements found to be defamatory. They also intend to pursue punitive damages.
Because the Macrons are public figures, they will have to prove Owens acted with actual malice, meaning she knew her statements were false or showed reckless disregard for the truth.
Owens moved to Nashville to work for The Daily Wire but was fired in 2024. She launched her independent podcast, “Candace,” that June and has since split from much of the broader MAGA movement.
When the Macrons first sued, an Owens spokesperson cast the case as a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American journalist and said Owens would not stop talking. A representative for Owens did not respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit.
The Macrons have also pursued similar claims in France against two women who spread the same theory about the first lady.
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