Veteran Nollywood actress Rita Edochie has refuted reports that she denied making social media posts criticizing her colleague, Judy Austin, asserting that she stands firmly by her previous statements.
The ongoing feud escalated in August when Judy Austin filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband, Emmanuel Obasi, and Rita Edochie, accusing them of defamation. In her legal filing against Rita, Judy is seeking N1 billion in damages for alleged defamation, along with an additional N50 million to cover legal costs.
Recently, rumors began circulating that Judy’s legal team claimed Rita had denied ever posting comments about Judy on social media. Rita addressed these rumors in a recent Facebook post, reiterating her previous allegations against Judy and emphasizing that she has not retracted any of her statements.
In her post, Rita challenged Judy to appear in court for the next hearing on September 29, while doubling down on her earlier accusations. She wrote, “September 29th never come oooo, I never go court and in their normal way of spreading lies, it’s all over social media that I denied what they copied from my page. Like how?”
Rita went on to repeat several of her claims, questioning Judy about allegedly marrying another woman’s husband and giving birth to his child, as well as referencing court proceedings and incidents at a local hotel. She also pointed out that Judy sued her under a name that, according to Rita, does not belong to her.
She concluded the post by calling on her followers to encourage Judy to attend court on September 29, while also taunting her rival with signature bravado: “Ijele is always walking the walk with her model K legs.”
This legal dispute follows a long-standing public conflict. In 2024, Emmanuel Obasi Judy’s former husband alleged that Judy had denied him access to their children for a decade after she married actor Yul Edochie in 2023. Rita, who is related to Yul by marriage, has been an outspoken critic of Judy.
In 2023, Rita publicly confronted Judy, urging her to “release the man you snatched,” a reference to Judy’s marriage to Yul while he was still legally married to his first wife, May Edochie.
