Candace Owens makes $300,000 bet with Piers Morgan over Brigitte Macron despite lawsuit
By: James Liddell (The Independent)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Far-right podcaster appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored toreignite her baseless conspiracy that France's first lady was 'born a man'
James LiddellWednesday 06 August 2025 12:16 BSTCommentsRelated: Candace Owens says 'they'll fake kill' Brigitte Macron rather than let her be deposed in defamation lawsuit
Candace Owens wagered a $300,000 bet with Piers Morgan over her baseless claim that Brigitte Macron was "born a man."
The MAGA podcaster continued to promote her debunked conspiracy theory on Tuesday's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, just weeks after being hit with a defamation lawsuit by French President Emmanuel Macron and the first lady over what they called a "relentless and unjustified smear campaign."
"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," the host 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?"
Without hesitation, Owens replied: "I am 1,000 percent prepared to take that bet."
open image in galleryFar-right podcaster Candace Owens claims, without evidence, that French First Lady Brigitte Macron was 'born a man' (Piers Morgan Uncensored/YouTube)
The far-right provocateur said that she had missed Morgan's tweet and, if she did spot it, she would have accepted the wager "live."
"So we can totally accept that bet, I believe [Brigette] Macron is a male and they will not be presenting any evidence on the contrary because they would have done it already," she added."
Morgan, who has repeatedly called Owens's claims "utter nonsense," pressed the podcaster whether she would accept that her "cruel, vindictive" campaign was akin to "bullying against women" if proved wrong.
"I was not interested in being a crusader against this," Owens responded. "I went to them and said, 'If yoy answer these questions, we will not run the series.' I am only interested in the truth."
Following months of Owens' false claims that "Brigitte Macron is a man" and "he transitioned" secretly decades ago, which have seen the anti-trans podcaster promote a byzantine and debunked conspiracy theory, the Macrons filed a 219-page defamation complaint in Delaware last month.
open image in galleryOwens told Tucker Carlson that Donald Trump phoned her, advising her to stop talking about Brigitte Macron's gender (Getty)
According to the lawsuit, Owens has "caused tremendous damage to the Macrons," adding that her "tranvestigation" podcast series was designed to feed a "frenzied fan base" in "pursuit of fame" and profit.
Having said she'd "stake my entire professional reputation on" the bogus claim about the Macrons, Owens reacted to the lawsuit by saying she'd been sued by the "first lady man" of France.
Owens ramped up rhetoric last Monday (July 28), predicting that Brigitte Marcon's death would be faked before the case reached its discovery phase.
Earlier this week, she told Tucker Carlson that President Donald Trump called her directly, imploring her to stop questioning France's first lady's gender, shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the White House in February.
After the president allegedly told Owens that "she looks like a woman to me," the podcaster continued to peddle her conspiracy, allegedly responding: "Respectfully, Mr. President, it's not my fault that he married somebody with a penis."
The Independent has reached out to lawyers for the Macrons for comment on Owens' latest remarks.
Tags
Who is online
266 visitors
I think Owens is doing this to make as much money as she can, that is her main motivation. And it seems to be working.
But there is another motivation, Owens is a crusader against the trans community and wants to accuse Brigitte Macron of being a trans groomer and pedophile.
The Macrons are suing her in an American court.
No, Brigitte Macron is not a man. She is a cisgender woman and the First Lady of France, married to President Emmanuel Macron since 2007. The claim that she was born male is a false conspiracy theory that has circulated online for years, particularly among far-right commentators and conspiracy theorists2.
🧠 Origins of the Rumor
The theory falsely alleges that Brigitte Macron was born as Jean-Michel Trogneux, her actual brother’s name.
It gained traction in 2021 after a YouTube video by two French women, who were initially convicted of defamation but later acquitted on appeal due to a “good faith” defense—not because the claims were proven true.
In 2024–2025, American commentator Candace Owens amplified the rumor, leading to a defamation lawsuit filed by the Macrons in U.S. court57.
📜 Evidence Refuting the Claim
Brigitte Macron has birth records, childhood photos, and three biological children from her first marriage.
The lawsuit against Owens includes documentation disproving the claims, such as a contemporaneous birth announcement and family photographs.
🧠 Why These Rumors Persist
Experts say such conspiracy theories often target prominent women, especially those in politics, as a form of gendered disinformation.
Similar false claims have been made about other public figures like Michelle Obama, often rooted in misogyny and political bias.
If you’d like, I can break down how defamation law applies in international cases like this or explore the psychology behind gender-based conspiracy theories.
Candace Owens Responds to Macron Lawsuit
-
What the Macrons’ lawsuit says
In the complaint, which included 99 pages of allegations of fact and outlined 22 alleged counts of defamation and false light , the Macrons claim that Owens has endorsed, manufactured, and promoted a series of false statements about them, including that Brigitte Macron was born a man and transitioned to identify as a woman, that Brigitte Macron statutorily raped a young Emmanuel Macron, that the two are related and engaged in incest, and that the Macrons have abused their power to conceal their scandalous pasts. The lawsuit states that all such claims are demonstrably false and defamatory and alleges that Owens knowingly laundered the falsities in “pursuit of fame.”
The lawsuit cites a number of pieces of evidence—including photos of a young Brigitte, a contemporaneous newspaper announcement of her birth, and the fact she gave birth to three children with her first husband—to refute Owens’ claims.
It also takes aim at Owens’ credibility, pointing to her career of “routinely peddling misinformation under the guise of legitimate reporting” and saying that she “built a brand on provocation, not truth.” Owens, who previously worked as communications director for the conservative activist organization Turning Point USA and was fired for antisemitism from the conservative media site The Daily Wire last year, has millions of followers on X and YouTube.
The complaint argues that Owens monetized her allegedly defamatory claims about the Macrons, including by selling merchandise such as a shirt displaying Brigitte Macron on a fake TIME magazine “Man of the Year” cover.
The lawsuit highlights that Owens was sent a detailed retraction demand letter in December that “conclusively disproved” her claims about the Macrons but Owens still went on to produce an eight-part video series titled “Becoming Brigitte” in which she continued to peddle false claims. Owens, according to the complaint, misrepresented the letter to her followers and suggested that the Macrons were attempting to “intimidate” her, which she cited as inspiration for producing the series, which was “aggressively monetized” and used to “elevate her personal brand.”
“Her conduct reveals a clear motive to generate controversy for financial and reputational gain,” the complaint alleges. “She will say anything, regardless of how outrageous or unfounded, to attract attention, build her platform, and achieve notoriety.”
The lawsuit claims “overwhelming evidence” of actual malice, a standard required to be proved clearly and convincingly by plaintiffs in order for a defamation case to overcome First Amendment protections. In addition to her response to the retraction demand letter, financial motivations, and political bias, it cites Owens’ reliance on non-credible sources to promote an “inherently improbable” conspiracy theory.
The complaint references a ruling by a court in France last September that found two of Owens’ sources—“so-called clairvoyant” Amandine Roy and “amateur detective” Natacha Rey—liable for libel for spreading false claims about Brigitte Macron and her brother. An appeals court overturned the convictions earlier this month, though the complaint against Owens notes that the ruling “did not overturn the judgment on the basis that the statements were true” but rather because it believed the defendants made the claims in “ good faith .” That case has been appealed by Macron to France’s highest court.
In summarizing the reputational and emotional harm the French leader and his wife have suffered, the complaint says that Owens’ allegedly defamatory statements “caused numerous individuals who heard or read them—both those who had held the Macrons in high regard and those who otherwise would have, as well as those with no awareness or opinion of the Macrons—to view them with contempt, to hold them in low regard, and to avoid associating or doing business with them, and to encourage others to avoid associating or doing business with them as well.” As a result, it added, “relationships with other members of the government, potential political allies, and others” as well as “confidence in the Macrons’ integrity and fitness as political and governmental leaders” have been undermined.
And the devastating reach has been global, the complaint asserts, invoking Owens’ own statement in a March podcast episode: “This is not just viral in France, viral in America, viral in the UK, the story, it’s even viral in Russia. People are now considering it as a part of their political dialogue and analyses.”
The Macrons described the spread of Owens false statements by other media personalities and influencers, including Joe Rogan, who is widely described as the most popular podcaster in the world. On March and April episodes of his show, which has 20 million subscribers on YouTube, Rogan said he believed Owens’ claims. “Yeah, Brigitte Macron’s a man. She got me hook, line, and sinker,” Rogan said of Owens, noting that if her claims were false “she would be getting sued right now…they would sue her.”
Owens herself had also practically dared the Macrons to sue her, according to the complaint, telling them after the December retraction to “bring” it. “I’ll run down to the courthouse and file the lawsuit for you,” Owens said. “I might even cover your legal expenses"
Whose truth? Hers?
Although I couldnt care less, evidently Owens has made a lot of money off this "controversy" with a very popular podcast claiming Mrs Macron is a man, and she has written a book about it. Candace Owens is a trump level grifter.
But she is also anti-trans fanatic and this subject lets her talk about that endlessly.