OK! Owner Richard Desmond is locked in a bitter legal battle with rival celebrity title Hello! over the rights to Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin‘s wedding. The publishing billionaire, who owns Express Newspapers, claims he has an option on the ceremony, which is widely expected to take place next summer.
Hello! has signed a deal worth around £1m for the exclusive rights as part of a deal which also included coverage of McLoughlin‘s 21st birthday party. But Desmond claims an earlier deal, signed by Rooney’s agent around the time of his 18th birthday, gives him the right to table the first bid and to top any rival offer.
He is said to be willing to pay up to £2m for the rights to the wedding, one of the most eagerly anticipated social events of next year. Desmond has instructed his lawyers SJ Berwin, according to legal sources, and they have written to OK! demanding to see details of the deal.
Hello! has instructed Farrer & Co and Rooney is thought to have called in Schillings. ‘The battlelines are being drawn up for a tug of hate between these two rival titles,’ said one legal source.
Source: Guardian
