LONDON, (Reuters) – Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand yesterday lost a High Court privacy action over a “kiss and tell” newspaper story.
Ferdinand, 32, brought a case for misuse of private information against MGN Ltd over a Sunday Mirror article in which interior designer Carly Storey gave her account of their 13-year relationship in return for 16,000 pounds.
The judge Justice Nicol had been asked to award the England player a maximum of 50,000 pounds damages and a worldwide gagging injunction.
But he said: “Overall, in my judgment, the balancing exercise favours the defendant’s right of freedom of expression over the claimant’s right of privacy.”
Ferdinand has branded the April 2010 piece – “My affair with England captain Rio” – a “gross invasion of my privacy”, and insisted he had not seen Storey for six years by the time it appeared.
