Rebekah Vardy loses Wagatha Christie libel case against Coleen Rooney
Rebekah Vardy lost the High Court libel case she brought against Coleen Rooney over a popular post on social media. The case was called "Wagatha Christie."
Judge Justice Steyn ruled Rooney's tweet was "a matter of public interest" owing to "the bad practice of gossiping about celebrities' private affairs by trustworthy others".
Vardy sued Rooney in 2019 after being accused of leaking "fake stories" to the media. The high-profile trial took place in May at the High Court in London. The wife of former England footballer
Wayne Rooney
was branded "Wagatha Christie" after claiming that The Sun passed on three bogus stories on her Instagram profile.
Vardy, married to
Leicester Citystriker
Jamie Vardy, denied leaking the claims and told the court she believed she would pass out when she heard Rooney's allegations when she was heavily pregnant.
Later in the trial, she became agitated while answering questions regarding internet trolling she and her family faced. The court heard text messages she had with her agency about releasing stories about other celebrities and footballers. Wayne Rooney was a daily courtroom testimony for his wife. During Euro 2016, he was requested to tell Jamie Vardy's wife to "cool down" as publicity mounted.
Text communications between the Vardys during the tournament and the phony Instagram posts that started the trial were also exposed. Hugh Tomlinson QC, Vardy's lawyer, stated that the case had a "very significant" influence on his client's life, resulting in "high-intensity abuse and vilification."
The 40-year-old endured "immense distress" from Rooney's charges and "had no alternative" except to sue her, Mr. Tomlinson said. Barrister David Sherborne claimed Rooney, 36, was "very confident" in her inquiry to establish the source of the leaks and that her "authentication was as rigorous as many newsrooms."
Rooney testified she attempted three times "in vain" to escape court. Rooney faked a trip to Mexico for a baby "gender selection" procedure, a comeback to TV, and a flooded basement. "I have screenshotted all the original stories, which reveal just one person watched them," Rooney wrote in a viral post. "It's ..........
Rebekah Vardy
's account."
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