Former Lioness Eniola Aluko has opened up on her defamation win against Joey Barton, threats over her social media use and the fallout over her Ian Wright remarks. The former footballer turned pundit, 38, was victorious in the first round of her defamation fight against Barton following his posts on X.
Speaking to the Mirror in a wide-ranging interview in the same week as Huyton-born Barton was ordered to pay Jeremy Vine legal costs of £200,000 following a different libel battle, Aluko said female broadcasters are still forced to endure abuse on social media relating to their TV and radio performances.
She said: “The way to change some of these things in society where women are made to feel they don’t belong in certain spaces is always to speak up about it.
“That’s the only way you change it. If you bury your head in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening, nothing really changes.”
Aluko revealed she has had to contact police due to social media abuse. She said: “It’s not unique to me, but it’s the reality, unfortunately. It does affect how people treat you in real life. One of the reasons why I love traveling is the anonymity that comes with it.
“You can meet new people, have a conversation on the plane, and the person has no idea who you are – and doesn’t judge you for what’s on social media or whatever.”
Aluko, who scored 33 international goals in 102 appearances for the Lionesses before retiring in 2020, became the first woman to appear as a pundit on Match of the Day.
But she attracted attention when she appeared to question Arsenal icon Wright’s place in women’s football – comments which saw him receive widespread support from fans, pundits and players past and present for the work he has done and continues to do in that space.
Aluko accepts she was wrong to spotlight the former Match of the Day pundit who has, for many years, been a fierce public and private advocate for women’s football. She told the Mirror: “I think I could have done better in responding to the question I was asked, and just keeping it as a general issue.
“I’ve always been the person, to be honest, to hold my hands up and say: ‘Listen, I got that one wrong. That was, that was a mistake.’ If I had been on the other end, I would probably have felt the same. Apologies are acts of respect.
“Apologies are a show of humility. I did a lot to try to apologise to Ian privately. So when you’re seeing a public apology, it’s actually the last resort. But it was a public forum that I spoke about him on, and I felt a public apology was important.”
Wright publicly declined to accept Aluko’s social media apology but Aluko remains determined to ensure her mea culpa is as loud as the upset her comments caused.
She said: “I respect that. I respect how he feels. It’s really about my apology. That’s all I can do. Then, whenever the person’s ready to have a conversation, I’m ready to have a conversation. But I respect if it’s not the right time, I totally respect that.”
Aluko is back in the punditry chair with the Lionesses in action at the business end of the Euros. Aluko’s Hyphenated People podcast – a series of interviews around heritage, travel, storytelling and culture – also launches this week.
The full interview, where Aluko also opens up on her search to find love and her shock at finding dating app users fear she is catfishing them, can be read here.
