Macron Forced To Prove His Wife Is Not A Man: How This Bizarre Case Began

The Macrons in France are fighting a bizarre 'gender conspiracy' against the country's First Lady, Brigette Macron, with President Emmanuel Macron being forced to "prove" that his wife is not a transgender woman. Their lawyer, Tom Clare, said that the President is planning to present "photographic and scientific evidence" to a US court, months after suing a US far-right influencer and political commentator, Candace Owens, for defamation.

According to Mr Clare, the French President would be presenting pictures of his wife pregnant and raising her children in court.

"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. It is incredibly upsetting to think that you have to go and subject yourself to put this type of proof forward," Mr Clare said during a podcast on the BBC.

How the bizarre allegations began

The allegations against Ms Macron began in 2017 when a blogger, Natacha Rey or Nathalie Rey, in a YouTube video, claimed that the French President's wife was infact her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux - who had changed his gender and name. She had repeated the claim during an interview with a spiritual medium, Amandine Roy, in 2021 - which went viral just before the French Presidential election in 2022.

The blogger even provided "evidence" which she claimed was a childhood picture of Ms Macron's brother that looked similar to the First Lady.

As the rumours escalated online, the Macrons sued the blogger and Ms Roy for defamation - for which they were found guilty in September 2024. However, the Paris Court of Appeal overturned the verdict in July 2025 on the grounds that the allegations were made in "good faith" and did not constitute defamation.

Candace Owens repeats claims

Candace Owens repeated the allegations against Ms Macron in 2024, and promoted her view that the France's First Lady is a man. She even claimed she would stake her "entire professional reputation" on the allegation.

In July this year, the Macrons filed a defamation case against Ms Owens over her claims against France's First Lady, which Mr Clare said was a "last resort" after a fruitless yearlong effort to engage with the US far-right influencer and requesting her to "do the right thing: tell the truth, stop spreading these lies."

However, Ms Owens called the defamation suit an "obvious and desperate public relations strategy", and said Ms Macron is a "very goofy man".

Ms Owens has over 4 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. In 2024, she was denied a visa from New Zealand and Australia, citing remarks in which she denied Nazi medical experimentation on Jews in concentration camps during World War II.

The Macrons

Emannuel Macron (47) first met his wife, who is now 72 years old, in high school, where he was a student and she a teacher. Ms Macron, during that time, was a mother of three and was married to Sebastien Auziere. For the last year of high school, Mr Macron had moved to Paris, but promised to marry the now First Lady.

Ms Macron later joined the French President in Paris and divorced her husband.

The two got married in 2007.

Mr Macron is currently serving his second and final term as President.

The couple was found in another controversy earlier this year when a video of Ms Macron allegedly shoving the French President's face went viral.

The clip showed Mr Macron preparing to deboard a plane as he stood in the vestibule, adjoining the boarding gate, speaking with his wife. Seconds later, two arms emerged from the doorway and shoved his face aside. Startled, President Macron maintained his calm as he realised that the boarding gate had opened and there was media outside. He looked at the camera, smiled, and raised his right arm to wave.

Mr Macron had initially dismissed the video but later called it a "joke".