Candace Owens’ Legal War with Brigitte Macron Erupts

Candace Owens has taken her fight with French First Lady Brigitte Macron to a new level — publicly accusing her of “mental illness” while facing a blistering defamation lawsuit that now has the White House watching.

The conservative firebrand claims the French president and his wife have “weaponized” private investigators against her, a move Owens calls “humiliating” for the head of a major nation.

“They actually hired someone to dig into my ties with Russia,” Owens told her audience, referring to reports that U.S. firm Nardello & Co. was engaged to look into her background weeks before the lawsuit hit. “How is this not mental illness?” she posted on X.

She didn’t stop there. Hours later, Owens doubled down: “This is a literal head of state hiring investigators to look into a mom podcasting from her basement. Your wife absolutely must check into rehab.”

The Macrons’ suit — filed in Paris — centers on Owens’ eight-part podcast series, Becoming Brigitte, in which she accused the French First Lady of having been born male, stealing another woman’s identity, and transitioning.

The 22-count complaint seeks unspecified damages, arguing Owens’ claims are “demonstrably false” and that she ignored three formal retraction requests between December 2024 and July 2025.

“This campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain,” the Macrons said in a statement. “We gave her every opportunity to stop. She refused. We hope this lawsuit will end it once and for all.”

French media reports say the Macrons believe Owens’ content has fueled conspiracy theories in Europe, triggering online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron personally.

Owens, 36, has vowed not to “shut up,” mocking Brigitte on her latest show:

“You are officially the first lady man of France,” she told her audience. “I’ve got to give it to you — you’ve definitely got balls. Literally fire everyone who told you this lawsuit was a good idea. You’re making history in all the wrong ways.”

The feud escalated into Washington politics this summer when President Donald Trump personally phoned Owens after French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the White House.

“Macron flew to D.C. and asked Trump to tell me to shut up,” Owens revealed in an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast. “Trump told me, ‘Brigitte is old. This is really affecting her. I saw her up close — she looks like a woman to me.’”

Owens claims she respectfully refused the request. “I told him, ‘Mr. President, it’s not my fault he married somebody with a penis.’”

The White House has declined comment on the exchange, though insiders say the president wanted to “cool tensions” with France after Macron’s visit focused heavily on trade and NATO commitments.

Conspiracy theories about Brigitte Macron’s gender identity first appeared in fringe French blogs in late 2021. They were amplified online during the 2022 French presidential election by far-right commentators. While French courts have already ruled such claims false in earlier cases, Owens brought the story to an American audience last year with her serialized podcast.

“This isn’t just about Candace Owens,” a French political analyst told us. “It’s about how cross-border misinformation spreads — and whether public figures can stop it when it’s profitable for the person spreading it.”

With the legal fight underway and Trump now indirectly in the middle, the case is shaping up to be one of 2025’s most bizarre international political dramas — a collision of culture wars, free speech battles, and diplomatic sensitivities.