US judge narrows French President Macron's defamation lawsuit against podcaster

A judge in Delaware ruled on Tuesday that French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, could continue their defamation lawsuit against the companies of right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, but not against Owens herself.

• The Macrons sued Owens and two Delaware-registered businesses associated with her in July over what they called her lie-filled "campaign of global humiliation", including the claim that France's first lady was born a male

• Superior Court Judge Sheldon Rennie agreed in a Tuesday order that his court did not have jurisdiction over Owens, who lives in Tennessee, but the defamation case against the businesses, Candace Owens LLC and Georgetom Inc, could continue for now as they were registered in Delaware

• Rennie deferred judgment on Owens' motion to dismiss the Macrons' litigation until the parties had briefed him further on how French defamation law and statutes of limitation intersect with US law

• Owens thanked the judge in a social media statement, saying the case "represents one of the grossest, legal overreaches by a foreign government leader in human history — a sitting President's attempt to personally bankrupt a single podcaster from outside the nation in which he governs"

• In their lawsuit, the Macrons said Owens touted false claims and conspiracy theories against them "to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money"

Reuters

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