Coleen Rooney Releases Statement Following Wagatha Case Win
Coleen Rooney has released a statement following her High Court libel trial win against Rebekah Vardy today, 29 July.
Rebekah Vardy, 40, had sued Coleen, 36, for libel in response to her viral social media post from October 2019, which accused Vardy's account of leaking stories to the press.
On Friday, 29 July, Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed the case and ruled that the claim made by Coleen was 'substantially true'.
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Following the ruling, Coleen issued a public statement, which read: “Naturally, I am pleased that the judge has found in my favour with her judgment today.
“It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others.
“Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs (Rebekah) Vardy.
“This left me with no alternative but to go through with the case to defend myself and to end the repeated leaking of my private information to The Sun.
“These leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family. Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, today’s judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019.
“Finally, I would like to thank all of my legal team, my family, friends and everyone who supported me, including the public, through this difficult and stressful time.”
The trial between the two women stemmed from a viral social media post in October 2019 posted by Coleen, who claimed she had carried out a 'sting operation' to uncover who had been leaking 'false stories' about her private life to the press.
In the post, Coleen, who is married to former Manchester United player Wayne Rooney, accused Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, of leaking the stories, after posting three fake stories to her private Instagram account for only Vardy to see.
The shocking social media post from Coleen read: "I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s ……….Rebekah Vardy’s account."
In her ruling on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn said it was 'likely' that Mrs Vardy’s agent at the time, Caroline Watt, 'undertook the direct act' of passing the information to The Sun.
But she added: “Nonetheless, the evidence … clearly shows, in my view, that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Mrs Rooney’s posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt."
The judge added: “In my judgment, the conclusions that I have reached as to the extent to which the claimant engaged in disclosing to The Sun information to which she only had access as a permitted follower of an Instagram account which she knew, and Mrs Rooney repeatedly asserted, was private, suffice to show the single meaning is substantially true.”
Rebekah Vardy has yet to comment publicly on the ruling.
Ali Condon