French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have filed a new defamation lawsuit against American conservative journalist and podcaster Candace Owens. This time, the French presidential couple has turned to the federal court of the state of Tennessee, seeking to hold Owens personally liable for spreading false statements about the First Lady of France.
This was reported by Politico on November 9, citing court documents and a representative of the Macrons' legal team.
The lawsuit was registered on November 4 in the federal district court of the Middle District of Tennessee. A representative of the French president's lawyers confirmed the authenticity of the document after it appeared in American court registries.
The grounds for the proceedings were repeated statements by Owens that Brigitte Macron was allegedly born a man and subsequently changed identity. These statements are not supported by credible evidence and have been repeatedly refuted by the French president's family.
In her podcast, Owens also spread conspiracy theories about the relationship between the Macron spouses and the alleged concealment of circumstances of the First Lady's personal life.
The new lawsuit, 409 pages long, contains additional accusations against the American journalist. The Macrons' lawyers claim that the spread of false information had not only ideological but also commercial motives.
According to the plaintiffs, Owens used resonating statements to promote her own media project, increase audience, and generate income.
In particular, the document says that the journalist continued to spread accusations against the Macron spouses, sell merchandise mocking them, and collect donations related to publications on this topic.
Previous lawsuit was considered in the state of Delaware
The current court appeal is a continuation of a legal conflict that began in July 2025. At that time, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron filed a lawsuit against Owens and two companies associated with her — Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc.
The proceedings took place in Delaware, where these companies are registered.
However, on October 27, 2026, Judge Sheldon Rennie ruled that the Delaware court lacks the necessary territorial jurisdiction to consider claims directly against Owens as an individual.
The basis was that the journalist resides in Tennessee, and her involvement in the management of Delaware-registered companies does not in itself allow her to be held personally liable in that state.
At the same time, the court allowed the proceedings against Owens' two companies to continue. Thus, the decision did not mean dismissal of all the Macrons' claims and did not contain final conclusions about the truth of the disputed statements.
It was after this that the French presidential couple decided to file a separate lawsuit in Tennessee, where the journalist lives and from where, according to court materials, her media project operates.
Macrons demand compensation and court injunction
In the new lawsuit, the Macron spouses demand compensation for damage to their reputation. They also seek punitive damages and a court injunction against further dissemination of statements that will be recognized as defamatory.
In addition, the plaintiffs demanded a jury trial.
The specific amount of financial claims is not specified in the published reports.
Owens previously rejected the accusations and characterized the legal persecution as an attempt to pressure her. After the October decision by the Delaware court, she stated that she considers the French president's actions an excessive use of legal mechanisms against an independent commentator.
As Politico notes, Owens' representative did not provide an immediate comment regarding the new lawsuit.
Now the Macrons' claims against the journalist personally will be considered in Tennessee, while the case against her companies remains under the jurisdiction of the Delaware court. None of these proceedings have yet concluded with a final decision on the merits of the accusations.
Based on materials from: Politico, Federal court registry of the USA, decision of the Delaware court.
