Right-wing podcaster Candace Owens is gloating over a partial legal win against France's first couple, even though the fight is far from over.
Owens wrote in a post on X Tuesday that she was "in the absolute best mood over this Macron dismissal" after a Delaware judge removed her personally from the defamation lawsuit filed against her by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron. The New York Times reported the ruling the same day.
"Feels like a year and a half of my family having to deal with psychotic lies regarding pending bankruptcies, secret accounts and plans to flee the country," Owens wrote, adding that the ordeal was finally over.
Judge Sheldon K. Rennie of Delaware Superior Court found that his court lacked jurisdiction over Owens, who lives in Tennessee, and threw out every claim against her personally. Her two companies, Candace Owens LLC and GeorgeTom Inc., remain defendants. According to The Times, the decision makes it "likely that her personal assets would be shielded" if the Macrons ultimately win.
The Macrons sued in July 2025 after Owens falsely claimed that the French first lady is a man. Owens has devoted dozens of episodes of her show to the conspiracy theory, which she began pushing in March 2024.
Rennie also sided with Owens' argument that French law, not American law, should set the deadline for the Macrons' claims. France generally gives plaintiffs three months to sue over allegedly defamatory statements, though that window can stretch to a year when the remarks target someone over traits such as sex or sexual orientation.
"We argued the Macron couple was intentionally forum shopping because being held to France's 3 months would have naturally expired their claims," Owens wrote.
The judge is allowing both sides to submit additional arguments on which deadline applies before deciding the fate of the claims against Owens' companies. If the three-month rule wins out, the entire case faces dismissal because the Macrons didn't file within that window.
Owens also insisted the couple "is NOT and has never sued anyone for matters pertaining to sex, sexual orientation, or gender," claiming the suit instead targets her statements about "MK Ultra and theft." The Times, however, reported that the lawsuit followed her false claims about Brigitte Macron's gender.
Clare Locke, the law firm representing the Macrons, praised the court for keeping the claims against Owens' companies alive and said it would explore other ways to hold her personally accountable.
Owens is separately facing two defamation suits over her commentary on the killing of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. Both cases, filed in federal courts in Tennessee and Utah, are still pending.