Actors Yul Edochie And Judy Austin Allegedly Deny Being Married To One Another

Yul and May Edochie

“We are skitmakers.”

Nollywood actor Yul Edochie has reportedly denied being married to his colleague, Judy Austin, during divorce proceedings with his wife May.

Judith Austin and actor Yul Edochie have two children together, but according to Premium Times, Edochie has declared that they are not married.

He insists there is no officially recognized union between them and claims their relationship is solely based on skit-making. Yul, 42, made this claim in his court filing, according to the legal team of his estranged wife May, led by Emeka Ugwuonye of Due Process Advocates, who made the announcement in a video address and statement on Sunday.

According to reports, May filed for divorce from her husband in August 2023, but the specifics of the court case were kept under wraps. According to Mr. Ugwuonye, Yul and Judy took credit for the unexpected setback in the ongoing case at the FCT High Court, Abuja, which was scheduled for a hearing on March 5.

As a result, Mr. Ugwuonye, who had previously concealed the case's specifics, is now required to disclose the events that are transpiring. Providing an overview of the case's developments, May's attorney emphasized the defense tactics he believed Yul and Judy were using.

He said that they claimed to be skitmakers and denied ever having been married, insisting that their relationship had no official legal recognition. May's attorney explained in detail how the actor denied being married to Judy, citing Yul's filing.

Read: We Only Know Rita Edochie As Yul's Wife

He said Yul wrote, “That since the news of the birth of Star in June 2021, Gistlover, as a negative blog that thrives in fake and manipulated information for financial gains, has been negatively exploiting every movie or skit featuring me and Judy and generating social media traffic for financial gains.”

According to Gistlover, May's original petition brought attention to an alleged traditional marriage ceremony that Yul and Judy allegedly had on April 24, 2022, in Anambra State. Yul responded by vehemently refuting the allegation and linking it to the Gistlover blog's dissemination of misleading information in order to profit financially.

May's petition mentions a traditional marriage ceremony, which Yul and Judy dispute, claiming it was a made-up story fueled by the blog's love of bogus news.

However according to May's attorney, Mr. Ugwuonye, the couple's “skit-making” relationship has resulted in two children and is set to have a third. Two children have come from Yul and Judy's union. With Yul, Judy gave birth to a son named Star Munachimso in November 2021. It is said that the couple has since welcomed a daughter.

The accused two intend to contend, through May's attorney, that their social media posts and videos are a part of a skitmaking project, drawing comparisons to the well-known comedian Oga Sabinus. Along with pertinent passages from Yul and Judith's responses, Mr. Ugwuonye also provided some details of the petition that May had filed.

In May's Petition: The Respondent (Yul) left Lagos for Enugu the following day, the 21st of April, 2022, a Thursday, and on Sunday, the 24th of April, 2022, the Petitioner found out again on social media (Gistlover Blog) that the Respondent was performing traditional marriage rites with the Party Cited (Judy) in her home town in Anambra State as at when the information was posted. (The Petitioner shall rely on the publication of this suit at the trial.

In Yul's response: The Respondent (Yul) categorically denies paragraph 10 (xviii) of the petition and states that the Gistlover blog publication was false and fuelled by Gistlover's enterprise in fake news and chaos. Since the news of the birth of the Respondent's child with the Co-Respondent in June 2021, Gistlover, as a negative blog that thrives in fake and manipulated information for financial gains, has been negatively exploiting every movie or skit featuring the Respondent & Co-Respondent and generating social media traffic for financial benefits therefrom. The Respondent hereby gives the Petitioner the strictest proof thereof.

In Judy's response: The Co-Respondent (Judy) categorically denies paragraphs 10 (xviii) & (xix) of the petition and states that the said Gistlover blog publication was false and fuelled by gistlover's enterprise in fak£ news and chaos. There was no traditional marriage ceremony between the Respondent and the Co-Respondent (Yul and Judy) on the 24th day of April 2022 or any other date. The Co-Respondent hereby gives the Petitioner the strictest proof thereof.

DPA attorneys claim that after Yul revealed his second marriage, May had first thought about filing a bigamy case against him. Bigamy is the crime of marrying someone while you are still legally married to someone else. She allegedly chose not to pursue this legal route, though, because she was afraid that, should the case succeed, her husband would wind up in prison.

According to May's attorney, this led to a change in tactics. Rather than that, May chose to go after adultery damages against Yul's purported extramarital partner, Judy, through a divorce. May's attorney stated that following their son's passing, she turned to going to court to seek legal redress. The attorney further stated that May felt forced to contact the police as a result of threats and abusive behavior from her divorced husband, as well as Yul's demands for intimacy since he had a second marriage.

Contrary to rumors circulating on social media and in some blogging circles, May did not file a bigamy complaint against Yul, according to the DPA family law firm. He said: “Each time bigamy was mentioned, she asked, ‘Will they arrest him?’ And we would say: ‘Most likely yes.’ She would refuse to approve it. You can understand that. Despite what Yul did to her, she didn't want him arrested.”

“The only option left was for May to file for divorce and to sue Judy for damages for adultery. Even at that, she didn't want to rush it. It took until after the death of her child and Yul's subsequent behaviours for her to file for divorce. As I have stated earlier, once May discovered the relationship between Yul and Judy, May refused to allow Yul access to her. She refused to allow him to have any intimacy with her.”

May's attorneys claim that the false information was spread by a blogger who was allegedly influenced by Judy, who was claimed to be a relative. The focus of the case, according to May's legal team, is adultery as a reason for divorce and the damages that can be obtained from Judy, the alleged adulterous partner.

According to reports, Yul and Judy have denied having a married relationship, saying that their bond was limited to making skits. May contests this assertion. May, though, is adamant that they erred.

“May Yul-Edochie has nothing further to prove. Yul and Judy admitted in their sworn statements that they had a child together. That is conclusive evidence of adultery, which is the basis of May's petition. The law does not require a person to prove what the other party has admitted or conceded,” her lawyers said.