Nollywood actress Adunni Ade has secured a legal victory against Google after a Lagos High Court ruled in her favour over online publications that falsely linked her romantically to former Dino Melaye senator.
The actress announced the judgment on Instagram, where she shared a copy of the court ruling alongside a brief message.
“Adunni Ade Vs Google. Not every battle needs a response. Some need a courtroom. Unto the next,” she wrote.
According to the judgment delivered on July 9, 2025, by Justice I.O. Harrison of the Lagos High Court, Google was ordered to pay the actress N30 million in general damages and remove the defamatory publications from Google.com and YouTube.
Adunni had filed the suit against Google and Meta Platforms on July 11, 2024, demanding N100 million in damages over articles she said falsely portrayed her as having a romantic relationship with Melaye.
The disputed publications included stories titled, “How Dino Melaye used fake Patek Watch to woo and knack Actress Adunni Ade back, front and center” and “Actress Adunni Ade involves in heated exchange with famous Instagram blog after being listed among six celebrities to have dated Dino Melaye.”
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The actress argued that the reports were false, misleading and damaging to her reputation. She also maintained that they violated her constitutional right to privacy and caused her emotional and psychological distress.
In April 2025, Adunni withdrew the case against Meta after the company challenged the suit through a preliminary objection, leading the court to strike it out of the proceedings.
However, the court found Google liable, holding that the violation stemmed from the wrongful use of the actress’s name and photograph in connection with the defamatory content.
The court directed Google to remove her name and image from the publications and delete the offending articles from all its platforms without delay.
“It is trite that damages, when violation of fundamental right is established, needs no further proof. The Court will thus award the Applicant the sum of N30, 000, 000. 00 (Thirty Milion Naira) as general damages,” the judgment stated.
The latest ruling comes months after Adunni recorded another legal victory when the Lagos High Court awarded her N20 million in damages in a separate privacy breach case against a Nigerian news platform and one of its reporters over a January 2023 publication that also linked her to Melaye.