Joey Barton apologises and agrees to pay Jeremy Vine £75,000 over ‘bike nonce’ slur-Brooke Ivey Johnson-Entertainment – Metro

Joey Barton has apologised to Jeremy Vine and agreed to pay him £75,000 (Picture: Getty Images)

Joey Barton has apologised to Jeremy Vine and agreed to pay the broadcaster £75,000 in damages.

Barton will pay damages and all legal costs to settle a defamation claim over posts on social media, the former footballer said in a post on X.

The news comes after Vine, 58, sued Barton, 41, for calling him a ‘bike nonce’ on social media.

The BBC Radio 2 host filed a libel claim at London’s High Court with the former Newcastle United player named as the defendant.

Barton originally responded by launching a GoFundMe page to raise money for his legal fees and raised over £100,000.

The pair were long embroiled in an ongoing online feud that seems to have finally reached its end with Barton’s online apology.

He posted a long apology to X and took back his previous claims: ‘Between  8  and  12  January  2024  I  published  11  posts  which  accused  Jeremy  Vine  of  having  a sexual  interest  in  children,  and  created  a  hashtag  which  made  the  same  allegations,  which  were viewed  millions  of  times. 

‘I  recognise  that  this  is  a  very  serious  allegation.  It  is  untrue.  I  do  not believe that Mr Vine has a sexual interest in children, and I wish to set the record straight. I also published posts during the same period in which I referred to Mr Vine having advocated forced vaccination during the Covid 19 pandemic, based upon a video clip of his TV programme.

‘I accept that he did not advocate this policy and that the video clip has been edited to give a misleading impression of what he was in fact saying. I then taunted and abused Mr Vine for bringing a legal complaint against me.

‘I have agreed not to make the same allegations again about Mr Vine and I apologise to him for the distress he has suffered. To resolve his claims against me in defamation and harassment, I have agreed to pay Mr Vine £75,000 in damages and his legal costs.’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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