Have French authorities investigated any threats or plots involving Emmanuel Macron and Candace Owens?
Executive summary
French courts have actively investigated and prosecuted online attacks and conspiracy-mongering about Brigitte Macron, and the presidential couple have pursued a U.S. defamation suit against Candace Owens for amplifying those false claims [1] [2] [3]. Owens has publicly alleged that Emmanuel Macron authorized an assassination plot against her; that claim drew attention from U.S. authorities and media but French security services publicly rejected the story as false and there is no clear public record in these reports of a French criminal probe specifically charging Macron over an assassination plot [4] [5] [6].
1. What French authorities have already investigated: online harassment and conspiracies
French judicial authorities prosecuted individuals accused of spreading the false conspiracy that Brigitte Macron was born a man, with a Paris court finding 10 people guilty of cyber-harassing the first lady in a case that judges said involved “particularly degrading, insulting and malicious” comments [2] [7]. That domestic legal action is concrete: it resulted in convictions and suspended prison terms and is framed by French prosecutors as enforcement against coordinated online defamation and harassment [8] [9].
2. The Macron couple’s parallel U.S. legal strategy
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron have also filed a high-profile defamation lawsuit in the United States against Candace Owens for amplifying the same gender-based conspiracy about the first lady, and French reporting indicates the couple plan to introduce medical or “scientific” evidence as part of their U.S. case [1] [3]. That transatlantic legal tack signals the Macrons’ intent to use civil courts abroad to counter global amplification of the false narrative [10].
3. Candace Owens’ assassination allegation and its immediate fallout
Owens publicly alleged that a “high-ranking employee of the French Government” told her Macron had ordered an assassination and that an elite gendarmerie unit was involved; she pushed the allegation across social platforms and an eight-part series that has been cited in multiple reports [11] [6]. Her claim prompted attention in the United States: media coverage noted the allegation reached the desk of U.S. officials and the FBI director said the agency investigates threats against Americans, though reporting does not show the FBI confirming the substance of Owens’s allegation [4].
4. How French security services and other outlets responded
French security units named by Owens—specifically units of the National Gendarmerie—told French media the assassination allegations were false news, and reputable French outlets covering the harassment trial made clear the rumor-mongering was the subject of domestic prosecutions rather than evidence of an official plot [5] [6]. One report quoted the presidential palace as saying an investigation was under way in the context of harassment and legal actions, but that statement relates to the broader campaign of false claims about the first lady rather than confirming an official inquiry into an assassination ordered by the president [6].
5. Reading the evidence and the limits of reporting
Available reporting confirms French authorities have investigated and prosecuted the online campaign about Brigitte Macron’s alleged identity and that the Macrons have initiated a U.S. defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens [2] [1]. Reporting also shows Owens accused the Macrons of an assassination plot and that the claim attracted U.S. attention, including comments from an FBI official, while French security dismissed the allegation as false—however, the sources reviewed do not provide public evidence that French authorities launched a criminal probe charging Emmanuel Macron in connection with any plot to kill Owens [4] [5] [6]. Where outlets differ—some amplify Owens’s claims, others emphasize denials and legal responses—the pattern in reporting points to prosecutions for harassment and vigorous denials of the assassination allegation, not to verified evidence of a Macron-ordered plot [9] [3] [11].
6. Motives, messaging and what to watch next
The narrative has multiple incentives: Owens benefits from audience attention and monetization by promoting sensational claims, while the Macrons are deploying legal remedies to deter global smear campaigns and reclaim reputational control [5] [1]. Future clarity will depend on whether U.S. or French authorities release formal findings about any credible threats tied to Owens’s allegation; for now, the public record in these sources documents legal action against online harassers and denials from French security, not an authenticated assassination plot directed by the French president [2] [5] [4].