Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron have brought a fresh defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens in her home state of Tennessee, in an escalation of a transatlantic legal battle as the far-right US podcaster continues to spread false claims that France’s first lady was born a man.

The Macrons first sued Owens and her media companies in July 2025 in Delaware in response to what the French first couple called “verifiably false and devastating lies” being repeated by Owens on her podcast and on X. According to that lawsuit, those lies included that Brigitte Macron, 73, was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux – who is actually her older brother – and committed identity theft to hide a gender transition; that Emmanuel Macron was elected as French president as part of a CIA mind-control program; and that the couple are blood-related relatives committing incest.

A judge ruled that the Macrons’ claim was limited in scope to Owens’s companies registered in Delaware after she successfully argued that the court’s jurisdiction did not extend to her personally as she did not live in that state. The case against her companies remains pending.

Meanwhile, the new lawsuit filed on 4 November in Nashville, Tennessee, where Owens resides, includes 88 counts of defamation, false light and defamation by implication. They are against Owens personally and build on the Macrons’ original demand for punitive damages against the podcaster on the grounds that she has persisted with the false claims.

“Mrs Owens was adamant that Tennessee is where this case belongs because it’s where she lives,” a representative for the Macrons’ legal team said. “With this filing, we are giving her exactly what she has repeatedly demanded.”

The new complaint stated that since the Delaware lawsuit was filed, Owens had “unequivocally doubled down”, publishing further “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions” through her eight-part podcast series called “Becoming Brigitte” – along with accompanying posts on X.

The filing also alleges that Owens – who has millions of followers across her podcast and social media channels – has a financial motive in continuing to peddle the false claims. “She has continued to use her podcast to expand her lies about the Macrons, sell merchandise making fun of the Macrons, and collect donations based on her ‘reporting’ on the Macrons,” the complaint says.

The new lawsuit mentions a “Brigitte doll” that Owens holds in her videos, describing it as “a grotesque, alien-like figure” that is reminiscent of the namesake character in the fictional film ET. The doll “caricatures Mrs Macron’s body”, the lawsuit contends, while adding that Owens’s use of the doll confirms “that her campaign against Mrs Macron is driven by animus toward Mrs Macron’s perceived gender identity, gender, and sexuality”.

The French first couple has experienced “relentless bullying on a worldwide scale” as a result, the lawsuit alleges. It says: “Defendant has subjected the Macrons to a campaign of global humiliation, 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 Macrons are seeking actual, presumed and punitive damages, in addition to a narrowly tailored injunction barring Owens from republishing any defamatory statements.

“To be clear, there is nothing shameful or defamatory about being a man, being transgender, or being gay,” the lawsuit says. “Owens’ statements are defamatory because they accuse the Macrons of lying to France and to the world, for decades, about who Mrs. Macron is – and of committing crimes to conceal that supposed lie.”

The Guardian has contacted Owens for comment. On X, she wrote in part: “The Macrons have indeed filed a NEW set of claims against me. 88 in total, and this time, they want justice over my Brigitte-Doll.

“Those of you who are fans of the show know that Brigitte-Doll has never pursued the limelight. For her to be called ‘grotesque’ by the French couple is hurtful, to say to the least.

“Brigitte-Doll will be making no further statements at this time.”