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What specific claims did Candace Owens make about Brigitte Macron in March 2024?
Executive Summary
Candace Owens repeatedly promoted a long‑debunked conspiracy in March 2024 asserting that France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, was born male and is secretly the same person as her brother Jean‑Michel Trogneux, saying she would “stake [her] entire professional reputation” on that claim. Those claims were tied to a 2021 article from the right‑wing French magazine Faits et Documents, have been publicly rejected by President Emmanuel Macron, and later prompted legal action by the Macrons [1] [2] [3].
1. How Owens framed the explosive allegation and her bold wager
In March 2024 Candace Owens used her podcast and social posts to assert that Brigitte Macron is “in fact a man,” repeating a narrative that Brigitte was born male under the name Jean‑Michel Trogneux and later lived as Brigitte. Owens explicitly stated she would “stake my entire professional reputation” on the claim and described the allegation as a “scandal” and “terrifying,” urging Brigitte to dispel the story by releasing early photos or holding a press conference; Owens amplified the claim via a YouTube episode titled “Is France’s First Lady a Man?” [1] [4] [5]. The rhetoric framed the allegation as settled fact and cast the Macrons as hiding a major secret—an assertion that escalated public attention and polarized reactions immediately after her March 2024 statements [6].
2. The source Owens relied on and its provenance
Owens cited a 2021 article from the right‑wing French magazine Faits et Documents that had promoted the theory that Brigitte and her brother Jean‑Michel were the same person—alleging Jean‑Michel lived as a man for decades, fathered children, and then transitioned to become Brigitte. That article has been characterized in subsequent reporting as the origin of the circulating rumor; Owens’ March 2024 repetition relied on that earlier piece to buttress her claims [1]. The provenance matters because the Faits et Documents story had already drawn scrutiny in France, where similar claims had led to legal penalties for others spreading the rumor, indicating the allegation was not a new investigative finding but a recycled and contested narrative [6].
3. Official rebuttals, prior legal rulings, and factual pushback
French authorities and the presidential couple publicly rejected the allegations. President Emmanuel Macron labeled the rumor “false information,” and French courts previously fined individuals for online harassment and defamation tied to the same narrative—legal outcomes that undermine Owens’ presentation of the claim as credible. Those court rulings demonstrate an earlier judicial determination that the rumor was defamatory or harassing in France, which undercuts Owens’ decisive rhetorical stance that she would risk her career on an assertion already judged problematic by French institutions [6] [1].
4. The trajectory from social post to transatlantic legal dispute
Owens’ March 2024 allegations did not remain only online; the Macrons later characterized her statements as part of a sustained campaign of defamation and filed a multicharge lawsuit in the United States alleging a “relentless year‑long campaign” of false claims. By mid‑2025 the dispute escalated into litigation, with reporting noting a 22‑count defamation suit and ongoing legal processes in Paris for online harassment related to the same rumor. This demonstrates how the March 2024 episode served as a flashpoint that fed into broader transnational legal and reputational consequences [7] [2] [8].
5. Competing narratives, motives, and media ecosystems at play
Multiple actors amplified and contested the claim. Owens cited a right‑wing French magazine; French judicial and presidential responses rejected it; and the Macrons framed later legal action as a response to a year‑long defamation campaign. These lines suggest competing agendas: partisan amplification of a sensational personal allegation, judicial efforts to curb harassment, and a presidential couple seeking legal redress. Observers noting the source’s right‑wing provenance and the pattern of recycled rumors point to a media ecosystem where controversial narratives are monetized or weaponized, while legal institutions attempt to enforce norms against defamatory content [1] [2].
6. What remains established and what is disputed
What is established: Candace Owens publicly repeated the claim in March 2024 that Brigitte Macron was born male and pledged to stake her professional reputation on it; she referenced the Faits et Documents article and used podcast and social platforms to amplify the assertion. What remains disputed or legally contested: the factual truth of the allegation—which French courts and the Macron presidency have rejected—and the broader pattern of online harassment and defamation that has produced legal proceedings in both France and the United States. The record shows a clear sequence of amplification, official rebuttal, and subsequent litigation rather than the emergence of new corroborating evidence for Owens’ March 2024 claims [4] [1] [7].