Eni Aluko reveals she has fled the country and is ‘genuinely scared’ after Joey Barton’s vile sexist attacks triggered online abuse as ITV pundit confirms she has sought legal advice
Eni Aluko has revealed she felt ‘scared’ enough to leave the country following recent online attacks from Joey Barton.
Barton has made a number of sexist rants in recent months against several female former players, pundits and commentators who played a role in the reporting and analysis of men’s football.
His latest attack targeted former Chelsea and England star Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward during their coverage of an FA Cup third round tie between Crystal Palace and Everton for ITV.
Barton claimed the broadcaster had reached a ‘new low’, but the tirade was notable for its bizarre comparisons to serial killers Fred and Rose West.
The Wests murdered twelve women and young girls in twenty years. Fred took his own life before trial, while Rose was sentenced to ten life sentences. She is still in prison, at the age of 70.
Eni Aluko revealed that she has fled the country due to fears for her safety following recent attacks by Joey Barton
Barton called Aluko and Ward ‘the Fred and Rose West of football commentary’ after an FA Cup match on ITV
In an emotional video on her Instagram account on Tuesday, Aluko revealed she has now left the UK after feeling “genuinely scared” following the online attacks.
‘Now I am open and honest, I am human and I like to admit: I have been scared this week.
‘I’ve been really scared this week. I only left home on Friday and am now abroad. Because it is very important to say that online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.
‘I felt threatened this week. I feel like something is going to happen to me. And I don’t say that to get people to feel sorry for me. I say that to help people understand the reality and impact of hate speech. The impact racism has. The impact sexism has. The impact misogyny has on all of us women in the game(s) in sports broadcasting.
“That’s the real impact – and it’s not an isolated incident, this is now emerging as a culture in the game, from certain fan bases and certain people.
‘They create a culture where people don’t want to go to work, people don’t want to leave their house, people feel threatened. Of course there is also a major impact on mental health.’
British Sports Secretary Stuart Andrew has vowed to put pressure on social media companies following Joey Barton’s “dangerous and disgusting comments”.
Speaking to a Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport committee on Tuesday, he said: ‘These are dangerous comments that open the floodgates to abuse and that is not acceptable.
British Sports Secretary Stuart Andrew has called the comments “dangerous and disgusting.”
“I’m a little wary that these kinds of people want the oxygen, and I don’t want to fuel it.”
He added that he would be ‘happy’ to speak to social media companies about Barton’s tirade and noted that broadcast regulator Ofcom was also required to issue guidance under the new Online Safety Act.
On Tuesday, reports emerged from the Telegraph that both Aluko and Ward would seek legal advice after being compared to the West.
“How is she even talking about men’s football,” Barton wrote in December on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘She can’t even kick a ball properly. Your coverage of the EFC game last night took it to a new low. Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.’
ITV was highly critical of Barton’s comments and issued its own stern response, which read: ‘For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our experts, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, making such vindictive comments based on gender while invoking the names of serial killers is clearly despicable and shameful on his part.”
Aluko appeared to confirm that she has sought legal advice following Barton’s comments about our freedom of speech isn’t really free.
“Our speech is not really free, and neither is our opinion, because depending on what you say, there are laws that govern that opinion and that freedom of speech. That’s not something that happened this week; that has always been the case.
The infamous serial killers are known to have committed at least twelve murders over a twenty-year period
‘If you come out and are racist, sexist or misogynistic and threaten people online, there are laws for that and that govern that behaviour. It’s not free. It is also not freedom from consequences.
‘There are consequences. And last week I sought advice from lawyers and it has now been decided to take further action.’
Meanwhile, the former Premier League footballer’s ‘distorted, evil views’ have been strongly condemned by Ny Breaking deputy editor Stephen Wright.
Wright spoke to It’s All Kicking Off hosts Ian Ladyman and Chris Sutton following his powerful article, in which he described Barton’s comparison to serial killers as an obscene new low for a deluded, sexist criminal.
“There’s a line you can’t cross and I think he’s crossed that line by several miles with this attack,” said Wright, who has covered crime for the Mail for 30 years.
‘If he wants or can make an intellectual argument, then do so. Do it.
Aluko appeared to confirm that she has sought legal advice following Barton’s comments
ITV denounced Barton’s criticism of Aluko and Ward as ‘shameful’ and ‘despicable’
‘But don’t compare these ITV commentators, who I listen to a lot, Lucy Ward on TNT, formerly BT Sport, and she is a very articulate and astute commentator. Don’t compare these experts to serial killers.
“I mean, it’s the most absurd, unnecessary comparison you can make. He downplayed the entire argument and made it worse by doubling down on it and trying to defend it. What he has done is indefensible.’
Barton also invoked the memory of soldiers who fought in the First World War – including his grandfather – to justify his attacks on women in football.
He also suggested that he would have to be killed before he could be canceled, calling himself a “lone wolf.”