France's 1st lady to present evidence in defamation suit

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron are planning to present "scientific evidence" in a defamation suit at a US court to prove that the first lady is a woman.

In an interview with the BBC's Fame Under Fire podcast, the Macrons' lawyer, Tom Clare, said they will present photographic and scientific evidence in the defamation lawsuit against right-wing US influencer Candace Owens, who claimed that Brigitte was born male.

Clare said the first lady found the claims "incredibly upsetting" and that they are a "distraction" for the French president.

"I don't want to suggest that it somehow has thrown him off his game. But just like anybody who is juggling a career and a family life as well, when your family is under attack, it wears on you. And he's not immune from that because he's the president of a country," he said.

Clare said the couple will present scientific evidence to fully refute the allegations, without disclosing further details.

The Macrons filed a lawsuit in July against the right-wing podcaster alleging that she engaged in defamation.

The suit, filed in a court in the state of Delaware, centers on Owens' claims that that French first lady was born a man and transitioned to a woman under a stolen identity, as well as allegations that the Macrons are related and so are committing incest and that Macron was chosen to become the French president by the US spy agency the CIA.

The 219-page complaint seeks a jury trial on 22 counts related to the claims made on Owens' show, including in an eight-part series that made a number of claims about the Macrons, as well as over Owens' rebuffs to three retraction demands sent since last December, according to the suit.

False claims about Brigitte Macron's gender have circulated on social media for years, dating back to 2021, when two French women posted a YouTube video alleging she was once a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux -- who is actually her brother.

In July, the Macrons also took their case against the two women to the highest appeals court after the Paris Court of Appeal overturned earlier convic