Macrons to provide evidence proving Brigitte is a woman, lawyer says

Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, plan to present “scientific evidence” in a US court to prove Mrs Macron is a woman.

The French President and Mrs Macron have taken a defamation lawsuit against far-right activist Candace Owens, who made unsubstantiated claims Brigitte Macron was born male.

Since 2024, the prominent conservative podcaster has shared a series of YouTube videos for her nearly five million subscribers, including a multi-part series called “Becoming Brigitte”, claiming Mrs Macron was born male.

In March of that year, Ms Owens tweeted she would “stake my entire personal reputation” to prove Mrs Macron “is in fact a man”.

Ms Owens, who previously hosted a show on the US conservative outlet The Daily Wire, also claimed there was a “trove of evidence and documentation” to prove Mrs Macron was born male.

This prompted the Macrons to file a lawsuit against the conservative commentator in July, asking Ms Owens to stop making the claim.

Now, they plan to provide scientific and photographic evidence in a court of law in Delaware to dismiss the claim and prove Mrs Macron is a woman.

Their lawyer, Tom Clare, said in a BBC podcast that Mrs Macron has found the claims to be “incredibly upsetting” and distracting to the French president.

Mr Clare spoke of the couple’s importance on the world stage, but added, “they are also human beings”.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive in Vietnam. / Credit:

He said the French president and his wife feel offended and hurt that their identity and relationship are being scrutinised in what they say are false allegations about Mrs Macron.

In the US, defamation against public figures requires plaintiffs to prove “actual malice”, meaning the burden falls on the Macrons to produce evidence to show the defendant knowingly spread false information or acted with “reckless disregard”.

“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself to put this type of proof forward,” Mr Clare said to the BBC.

He added Mrs Macron is willing to “subject herself in a very public way” to quash the false allegations.

“If that unpleasantness and that discomfort that she has of opening herself up in that way is what it takes to set a record straight and stop this, she’s 100% ready to meet that burden,” the Macrons’ lawyer said.

Rumours about Mrs Macron being a transgender woman and born male began in 2021 after French bloggers Armandine Roy and Natacha Rey claimed in a YouTube video that she was actually a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux.

The Macrons sued the two women over the false claims, who were initially found guilty and ordered to pay thousands of euros in damages, but this was overturned in July by a French appeals court.

The Macrons’ relationship has made headlines for their 24-year age gap, in which Mrs Macron has previously spoken about her anxiety about their age differences.

The couple’s romance was turned into a television series in 2024.

Their relationship was highlighted again after a video in May appeared to show the French president being pushed in the face by his wife before they disembarked a plane in Vietnam as part of their tour of Southeast Asia.

The interaction was described as “playful teasing” by Mr Macron’s office.