Veteran Nollywood actress Rita Edochie has publicly lashed out at Judy Austin, the second wife of her nephew Yul Edochie, following Judy’s recent remarks questioning whether women without Igbo titles should wear the red cap.
The confrontation was sparked after Judy Austin publicly raised concerns about the propriety of women donning the traditional red cap without holding an Igbo chieftaincy title, a statement that did not sit well with Rita Edochie.
Taking to her Instagram page, the actress questioned Judy’s moral authority to speak on matters of tradition, pointing to the circumstances surrounding Judy’s relationship with Yul Edochie, who was already married to May Edochie when the affair began.
“If a woman can disrespectfully kidnap another woman’s husband in broad daylight and run into the bush, what is a red cap that she cannot wear?” she wrote.
Rita Edochie argued that Judy’s continued involvement in what she described as a home-wrecking situation disqualified her from offering moral or cultural guidance to others. She drew a sharp contrast between someone who has made past mistakes and reformed, whose advice she said might carry weight, and someone she accused of remaining in the same wrongdoing while dispensing life lessons.
“You can’t be a thief and expect me to learn morals from you,” she stated pointedly.
The actress also recalled that Judy had previously advised women on how to keep their marriages intact, a stance Rita found deeply contradictory given the circumstances.
“The irony is so rich that it deserves its own chieftaincy title,” she quipped.
The post has since gone viral, reigniting public debate over the long-running Edochie family saga and drawing widespread reactions across social media.
