# The Macron defamation suit

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Macron defamation suit," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-macron-defamation-suit/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Macrons' libel action against Candace Owens over her claim that Brigitte Macron was born male, which John Kiriakou discussed as a question of venue — and which prompted him to say he wished he had sued the Los Angeles Times in England when he had the chance.*

- **Plaintiffs:** Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron
- **Defendant:** Candace Owens
- **The claim at issue:** That Brigitte Macron was born male
- **How long Owens had pursued it:** About three years, including a documentary
- **The warning:** The Macrons' attorneys asked her to stop about a year before suing
- **Her stated reason for continuing:** Her conversion to Catholicism
- **Kiriakou''s note on venue:** England would be the better forum
- **His own regret:** 'I really wish I''d sued the LA Times in England'

**The Macron defamation suit** is the libel action Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron brought against [Candace Owens](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/candace-owens) in July 2025, discussed by [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) on the DeProgram programme the day it was reported.

## The claim and the warning

Owens had spent about three years asserting that Brigitte Macron was born male, and had made a documentary to that effect, arguing that no childhood history, documents or photographs existed.[1][2] What was new, and had not been publicly known until days before, was that the Macrons had approached her through attorneys about a year earlier and told her to stop, on pain of suit. She did not stop; she doubled down, saying in part that her conversion to Catholicism required her to expose the person she described as masquerading as the first lady of France.[3][4]

## The question of venue

Asked where the suit should be brought, Kiriakou treated the choice of forum as the substantive question and answered it in one word: England.[4]

## The regret he attached to it

The answer led him directly to his own case. *"I really wish I'd sued the LA Times in England,"* he said. *"I could have, because of the internet. And so … I should have"* — acknowledging in the same breath that it *"would have required me to go to England quite a bit."*[4][5]

The remark is one of the few occasions on which Kiriakou has named a legal step against a news organisation that he considered available to him and did not take.

## See also

- [Candace Owens](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/candace-owens)
- [Kiriakou's legal counteroffensive](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-legal-counteroffensive)
- [The Guardian smear series](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-guardian-smear-series)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 30:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1838s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 31:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1871s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 32:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1967s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 33:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1999s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 33:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=2030s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-macron-defamation-suit/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt