French First Lady Brigitte Macron’s lawyers will soon offer “photographic and scientific evidence” that she is a cisgender woman in court as part of her and her husband Emmanuel Macron’s lawsuit against American conspiracy theorist Candace Owens, who has repeatedly said that Brigitte Macron is secretly transgender.

Attorney Tom Clare told the BBC that he will present “expert testimony that will come out, that will be scientific in nature” and that the Macrons are “prepared to demonstrate fully, both generically and specifically,” that Owens is wrong.

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“These folks are obviously important on the world stage, but they’re also human beings, and it’s offensive and hurtful to them to be accused of effectively criminal acts and conspiring to lie to the world about their identities,” Clare said, explaining that while the accusations have been “incredibly upsetting” for the Macrons, they are just a “distraction” for the French president.

“I don’t want to suggest that it somehow has thrown him off his game,” he said. “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.”

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“It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself to put this type of proof forward.”

Owens has been calling Brigitte Macron, the 72-year-old mother of three children, transgender for years now, saying that her real name is “Jean-Michel Trogneux” and that she raped her husband.

The conspiracy theory has been spreading among the French far right for years and can be traced to an antisemitic newsletter, Faits et Documents, from September 2020. “Independent journalist” Natacha Rey wrote a series of articles for the newsletter saying she had undertaken an “investigation” into the “mystery of Brigitte Macron” and talked to “numerous experts.”

Her “proof” was that Brigitte Macron often covers her neck and that there aren’t many pictures of her online from when she was young, which was before social media and before she was famous.

Rey also said that Brigitte Macron’s previous name was “Jean-Michel Trogneux.” Trogneux is Brigitte Macron’s maiden name, and Rey said that Macron’s brother, Jean-Michel, could not be contacted. Proof enough, apparently, that the brother never existed and was, in fact, Brigitte Macron herself.

Rey elevated the rumor during a four-hour YouTube interview with anti-vaccine psychic Amandine Roy. Rey said that she has been researching Macron for three years now and that she had solid proof that Brigitte Macron is trans stashed away “in a sealed envelope, which was deposited with a lawyer with a well-known name.”

Brigitte Macron sued Rey and Roy in 2021. They were initially found liable and ordered to pay €8,000 (about $9,000) to Brigitte Macron and €5,000 (about $6,000) to her brother. This year, a higher court overturned the ruling on the grounds of freedom of expression, BBC reported. The Macrons are appealing.

Owens latched onto the French conspiracy theory and started spreading it on her podcast.

“I will say this until I’m blue in the face,” Owens said in 2024, “Brigitte Macron is a man. He transitioned. His name used to be Jean-Michel Trogneux, and then he became Brigitte. And when Brigitte was 40 years old—and no one will counter this fact in the media. Instead, they just call it a ‘conspiracy theory’ because that’s what it’s always—just call everybody names. It’s a conspiracy theory.”

Earlier this year, the Macrons sued Owens for defamation. The lawsuit claims that Owens’ obsession with their family has “caused tremendous damage to the Macrons,” causing “global humiliation” and “turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies.”

“Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history — twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade,” the lawsuit states, according to The Independent.

“The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale,” the suit adds. “Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust.”

The lawsuit has not caused Owens to back down from her bizarre claims. Last month, she told Piers Morgan that Brigitte Macron was “born a man” and bet him $300,000 that it was true.

“Last time we discussed this on Uncensored, I bet you $150,000 that you were wrong and that she’s a woman. On X, when we discussed this further, I doubled it, this is for charity, to $300,000,” Morgan said. “You haven’t accepted that yet. So right now, $300,000 to charity, I say she’s a woman. Are you prepared to take that bet?”

“I am 1,000 percent prepared to take that bet,” Owens replied. “So we can totally accept that bet, I believe [Brigitte] Macron is a male, and they will not be presenting any evidence on the contrary because they would have done it already.”

It’s unclear how the bet will be enforced since, as a conspiracy theorist, Owens will likely invent reasons to dismiss the evidence that the Macrons will soon be presenting in court.

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