Joey Barton claimed Eni Aluko was suing him in a now-deleted post on X.
The former Manchester City midfielder has been widely criticised for his comments targeting female sports broadcasters in recent months.
In particular, Barton compared Aluko and fellow ITV pundit Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West as well as dictators Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot, following Crystal Palace and Everton’s FA Cup tie earlier this month.
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On Monday, Barton claimed in a now-deleted X post that Aluko was suing him for “untrue, inaccurate and defamatory allegations” he made on January 19.
The former footballer, who played 12 minutes for England in 2007, posted a screenshot of an Instagram message from a law firm claiming that Aluko was suing him for defamation, alongside pictures of letters detailing the same information.
In addition to sharing the pictures, Barton alleged: “Another day. Another letter from Samuel’s Solicitors.
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“Eni Aluko now joining Jeremy Vine and suing me for saying she’s not very good at her job. Interesting that they both are using the same solicitors. What kind of legal firm sends you Instagram messages? Jokers.”
In a statement posted onto her Instagram account on Tuesday, Aluko confirmed she was taking legal action against the former footballer.
"Joey Barton recently published a Post on X which made untrue, inaccurate and defamatory allegations about me and my family," wrote Aluko.
"It is particularly harmful that Mr Barton involved my family in that post, suggesting my late father, a distinguished Nigerian senator, was in receipt of "dodgy money" and that I had benefitted from his corruption which paid for my lavish lifestyle including Rolls Royce cards and a private education. Mr Barton also publicly stated he knew where my family lived.
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"These, and the other allegations he made in the post, are all entirely untrue and have caused me extreme harm and distress. These were made just days after I stated publicly that I was genuinely scared, following Mr Barton's repeated online posts targeting me using extreme violent comparisons in previous weeks.
"I have instructed Judith Thompson at Samuel's Solicitors, as well as Sara Mansoori KC and Ifeanyi Odogwu at Matrix Chambers to send a letter before action to Mr Barton setting out the true position and requesting that the post on X be taken down.
"Instead of taking down his post, Mr Barton published a post today mischaracterising my legal complaint with a photograph of my letter of claim, causing further abuse of me, and my legal advisers.
"While he has now removed that post, it has been necessary to make this statement to set out the correct position."
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Aluko admitted in a 15-minute Instagram video earlier this month that she was considering taking legal action against Barton in the wake of his social media posts.
The 36-year-old, who made more than 100 appearances for the Lionesses before retiring in 2020, said earlier this month: "I've been scared this week.
"Over the past week, I have taken advice from lawyers and a course of action has now been decided on.
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"I've genuinely been scared this week. I didn't leave my house until Friday and I'm now abroad.
"Online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.
"I've felt under threat this week. I've felt like something is going to happen to me. And I don't say that for anyone to feel sorry for me - I say that for people to understand the reality and the impact that hate speech has, the impact that racism has, the impact that sexism has, the impact that misogyny has on all of us females in the game, in sports broadcasting."
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Football, Joey Barton