Brigitte Macron to provide court with proof she was born female

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, plan to present scientific evidence to a US court to prove that she was not born a man, the lawyer representing them in a defamation suit has said.

- Jon Henley Europe correspondent

The couple filed the suit in July against Candace Owens, a US right-wing influencer, and her business, alleging continuing defamatory attacks against them. Owens said last year she would “stake [her] entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man” named Jean-Michel Trogneux, and has since doubled down, including in an eight-part podcast series.

The Macrons' lawyer, Tom Clare, of the law firm Clare Locke, which has won several high-profile defamation cases, told the BBC's Fame under Fire podcast that Brigitte Macron had found the claims “incredibly upsetting” and they were a “distraction” for the French president.