France’s President and First Lady Sue Candace Owens Over “First Lady Is a Man” Claim

France’s presidential couple is suing U.S. conservative influencer Candace Owens for defamation over repeated claims that Brigitte Macron is a man.

The lawsuit follows a year of failed attempts to get Owens to retract the statement and continuous reports. “Each time we’ve done that, she mocked the Macrons; she mocked our efforts to set the record straight,” said the couple’s lawyer, Tom Clare. “Enough is enough; it was time to hold her accountable.”

Clare told CNN they will seek “substantial” damages if Owens continues spreading what he called “lies.” The 219-page complaint includes “extensive evidence” that Brigitte Macron “was born a woman; she’s always been a woman.”

In a YouTube video, Owens dismissed the lawsuit as “an obvious and desperate public relations strategy,” calling France’s First Lady “a very goofy man.”

Owen’s long-standing investigation claims that Brigitte was born as Jean-Michel Trogneux. Conspiracy theories about Brigitte’s gender have circulated for years. The Macrons have been married since 2007.