Hoax on Brigitte born a man, Macron lawsuit in the US

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have filed a defamation lawsuit in a Delaware court in the US against Candace Owens, a right-wing influencer and podcaster who created the podcast 'Becoming Brigitte'. The programme, which has 2.3 million followers, claims that the French first lady 'is actually a man'.

The 218-page lawsuit accuses Owens of publishing 'outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fantasies', including the claim that Brigitte Macron was born a boy with the name Jean-Michel Trogneux (his older brother's real name). Owens also claimed that the French president and his wife are close relatives and that Emmanuel Macron is the product of a CIA human experiment or 'a similar government mind control programme'.

The presidential couple's lawyer said Macron and his wife are willing to travel to the US to testify. Owens, a Trump supporter, is the wife of George Farmer, head of the social platform Parler, used for communications about the 6 January 2021 assault on the Capitol.

This is a rare case of a world leader suing for defamation. US President Donald Trump has filed several defamation lawsuits, including one against the editor of the Wall Street Journal last week.

To prevail in defamation cases in the US, public figures such as Mr Macron and Mr Trump must prove that the defendants acted with 'actual malice', i.e. that they knew what they published was false or demonstrated a reckless disregard for its veracity.