Macrons File 88-Count Defamation Suit Against Candace Owens in Tennessee
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, have filed a new defamation lawsuit against American podcaster Candace Owens in a federal court in Tennessee, escalating a legal dispute that began more than a year ago in Delaware.
The complaint, filed on 4 November 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, brings 88 counts of defamation, false light and defamation by implication against Owens personally. The case, Macron v. Owens, No. 3:26-cv-01765, has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., and a summons was issued to Owens on 5 November. The Macrons have requested a jury trial.
The filing is the latest turn in a dispute over claims Owens has made about the French first lady’s identity and the couple’s marriage — claims the Macrons say are false and have caused serious harm to their personal and public reputations. No court has found Owens liable, and the allegations in the new complaint have yet to be tested at trial.
Eighty-eight counts in a 409-page complaint
The complaint runs to more than 400 pages, and it accuses Owens of endorsing, repeating and publishing a series of false claims, including that Brigitte Macron was born a man and committed identity theft, that the couple are blood relatives, and that President Macron was chosen for office as part of a CIA mind-control programme. The Macrons’ legal team described Owens’ statements as “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions.”
The filing also alleges that Owens continued to promote the claims after the couple first sued her, including through her eight-part podcast series “Becoming Brigitte” and posts on X, and that she used the controversy to sell merchandise and solicit donations. The complaint even addresses a doll featured on Owens’ podcast set, which the couple say is part of the campaign against them.
The Macrons are seeking actual, presumed and punitive damages, along with a narrowly tailored court order barring Owens from republishing statements that a court finds defamatory. Bloomberg Law reported that the couple are represented by the firm Clare Locke LLP.
A case that began in Delaware
The Tennessee lawsuit follows an earlier case the Macrons filed in July 2025 in Delaware Superior Court against Owens and two of her companies, Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc. That suit accused Owens of spreading lies about the couple to boost her viewership.
On 27 October 2026, Delaware Superior Court Judge Sheldon K. Rennie ruled that the Delaware court lacked personal jurisdiction over Owens herself because she lives in Tennessee, and dismissed her individually from that case. The claims against her two companies were allowed to continue in Delaware.
The new Tennessee filing is, in effect, the Macrons’ answer to that ruling: a case against Owens personally, brought in the state where she resides and operates her media business. The move mirrors a pattern seen in another high-profile defamation case, where a Florida judge recently allowed a claim against the BBC to proceed, and it underlines how much the question of where a defendant can be sued now shapes these disputes.
Owens responds on social media
Owens acknowledged the Tennessee lawsuit in a post on X on 9 November, confirming that the Macrons had sued her and joking that “they want justice over my Brigitte-Doll.” She shared excerpts from the complaint and referred to the 88 claims against her.
Her response, posted a day after the Christian Post reported the filing, struck a defiant tone, and she has given no public indication that she intends to retract the statements at the centre of the case. As the dispute now moves into a federal courtroom in Nashville, both sides are preparing for a fight that will test where the line falls between free expression and defamation — a question on which a federal appeals court recently limited a Justice Department demand for journalists’ records.
France has also seen nationwide protests over the cost of living in recent weeks, but the Tennessee case is a separate matter: a sitting foreign head of state and his wife asking an American court to hold a U.S. commentator to account for statements made to an American audience.
What happens next
The case is at its earliest stage. Owens must now respond to the complaint, and the court will set a schedule for the proceedings. Any ruling on whether the statements were defamatory — and on what damages, if any, are owed — is months away at least.
For now, the filing stands as an unusually direct step: a French president choosing to litigate in an American court, in the defendant’s home state, over claims made in podcasts and on social media. The outcome could shape how public figures in other countries pursue defamation claims against U.S.-based commentators, and how far American courts are willing to go in policing speech about foreign leaders.
Frequently asked questions
Who sued Candace Owens in Tennessee?
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, filed the lawsuit on 4 November 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
How many counts does the lawsuit contain?
The complaint brings 88 counts of defamation, false light and defamation by implication against Owens personally, and runs to more than 400 pages.
Has a court found Owens liable?
No. The allegations have not been tested in court, and no finding of liability has been made in the Tennessee case. An earlier Delaware case against Owens personally was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, while claims against her companies continue there.
