Man Utd star Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 22, takes ex-girlfriend to High Court after she claimed in Instagram post that he had love child with another woman
- Manchester United footballer Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 22, is suing his ex-girlfriend
- Rhianna Bentley alleged that Wan-Bissaka was having a child with another woman after model Marliesia Ortiz claimed she had been sleeping with him
- Wan-Bissaka and April Francis, his partner and the mother of his newborn child, are taking legal action against Bentley for alleged misuse of private information
Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka is suing his ex-girlfriend after she posted on Instagram about the footballer fathering a child with another woman.
The 22-year-old is taking Rhianna Bentley to the High Court over posts made in October, since deleted, which reportedly referred to his ‘new bundle of joy’.
Ms Bentley is said to have discovered Mr Wan-Bissaka was having a child with another woman after US model Marliesia Ortiz claimed she had also been sleeping with the footballer, according to The Sun newspaper.
In September, Ms Ortiz published a picture of herself and Mr Wan-Bissaka on Instagram, which has also since been deleted, with the caption: ‘He has a baby on the way but told me he don’t want it.’
Mr Wan-Bissaka and April Francis, his current partner and the mother of his newborn child, are now taking legal action against Ms Bentley for alleged misuse of private information.
Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka is suing his ex-girlfriend Rhianna Bentley after she posted on Instagram about the footballer fathering a child with another woman
Marliesia Ortiz (pictured with Wan-Bissaka), 27, confessed to having an intimate relationship with the defender in a series of Instagram posts on Monday which were dated from September
At a remote hearing today, their lawyers applied for an injunction preventing Ms Bentley from publishing any private and confidential information about them.
However, the application was put back until Monday afternoon to give Ms Bentley time to take legal advice.
Their barrister Adam Speker QC agreed to an adjournment, but told the court: ‘Our concern is that she (Ms Bentley) has not engaged with us to date, she has not engaged with the emails sent by my instructing solicitors or the letter of claim.’
Mr Justice Nicklin explained to Ms Bentley, who represented herself at the brief hearing: ‘This legal action has come about because of several posts that you have made on Instagram.
‘I’m not at this stage making any determination about that…the issue at the moment is what happens between now and the adjourned hearing on Monday.
‘Are you intending to publish anything between now and Monday… that relates to the period within which you and (Mr Wan-Bassaka) were in a relationship?’
Ms Bentley replied: ‘No.’
Ms Bentley is said to have learned Mr Wan-Bissaka was having a child with a woman after Marliesia Ortiz (pictured) claimed she had been sleeping with the footballer, The Sun reported
Pictured: Wan-Bissaka plays for Manchester United during a Champions League match
Mr Justice Nicklin then asked if she would ‘promise to the court by a written undertaking that you won’t publish anything between now and the hearing on Monday’, to which Ms Bentley said: ‘Yes, I can do so.’
The judge added: ‘On the basis of the material that I have seen, the real issue is about whether there is a threat to publish, I will call it relationship information.’
He told Ms Bentley the undertaking – to not publish information about Mr Wan-Bissaka or Ms Francis in her possession ‘solely by virtue of’ her relationship with the footballer – was ‘just going to hold the position until Monday’.
Mr Justice Nicklin said the next hearing will take place at 2pm on Monday.
Mr Wan-Bissaka moved from Crystal Palace to Manchester United last summer for an initial £45million, which made the England under-21 international the most expensive uncapped British player of all time.
The right-back has made 55 appearances for the Manchester club, making his United debut against Chelsea in August 2019.