French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States on Monday against right-wing American influencer Candice Owens over her claims that France's first lady is a man by birth, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The Macron family said in their lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of the US state of Delaware, that Owens engaged in a 'global humiliation campaign' and 'relentless harassment' to promote his podcast and increase the number of his 'fanatic' followers. a mass of admirers.
The first couple of France said that among the lies was the claim that 52-year-old Brigitte Macron was born a man named Jean-Michel Troyot, the real name of her older brother.
"Every time the Macron family leaves home, they do so with the clear knowledge that countless people have heard and many believe these vile fabrications. This is an invasion of privacy, inhumane and grossly unfair," the lawsuit said.
Owens did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters. Macron's office declined to comment to the agency.
The 22-point lawsuit seeks damages and fines of an unspecified amount, Reuters said.
Cases in which a world leader files a defamation lawsuit are rare, the agency noted.
On the other hand, US President Donald Trump has filed multiple defamation lawsuits, including against the publisher of the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal" last week.
To win defamation cases in the US, public figures such as Macron and Trump must prove "actual malice" on the part of the defendants. This means that the author of the defamation either knew that what he published was false or showed reckless disregard for the truth, Reuters noted.