French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at a rally after the first round of French presidential election in Paris, France, on April 10, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

In a rare instance of a world leader suing for defamation, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, filed a 22-count defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing podcaster Candace Owens on Wednesday over the claim that Brigitte could be a man, CNN reported.

The lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court alleges Owens has broadcast "a relentless year-long campaign of defamation against the Macrons," CNN cited a statement from Tom Clare, the Macrons' lawyer.

In March, the conservative commentator Candace Owens revived an absurd conspiracy theory with a YouTube video titled "Is France's First Lady a Man?" according to the complaint.

Promoted widely on X, Owens said the conspiracy theory was, "likely the biggest scandal in political history."

Since then, Owens has produced numerous videos about Brigitte Macron for her nearly 4.5 million YouTube subscribers, including a multi-part series called "Becoming Brigitte."

The lawsuit further claims she has also sold merchandise promoting the claim.

The Macrons' attorney Tom Clare told CNN that they had asked Owens to stop making the claim for about a year and filed the lawsuit as a "last resort" after she refused.

The complaint alleges Owens was the first person to bring these baseless claims to the US media and an international audience. The couple are suing for punitive damages and allege that they have suffered "substantial economic damages" including loss of future business opportunities.

"Ms. Owens' campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety," the Macrons said in the statement. "We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused," they said, according to the New York Times.

On Instagram, Owens posted a screenshot Wednesday of an article referencing the Macrons' lawsuit and a picture of the couple with the caption: "I will be coming for this wig today. Stay tuned."

She later posted a video on YouTube saying the lawsuit was "an obvious and desperate public relations strategy."

Reuters reported that Wednesday's lawsuit is a rare case of a world leader suing for defamation.

To win a defamation case in the US, public figures like the Macrons must be able to show that defendants engaged in "actual malice," meaning they knew that comments they had published were false, according to Euronews. 

Owens' claims are similar to those made in France by two women whom Brigitte Macron sued in 2021. That case was initially ruled in the French first lady's favor but has been overturned on appeal. She has now taken the case to France's highest appeals court, according to the New York Post.

Global Times