Leicester striker Jamie Vardy’s wife, 40, says Rooney’s exposure of ‘Wagatha Christie’ sparked an international ‘media frenzy’ and exposed her to being ‘attacked and humiliated’ online and in football stands .
Vardy is suing Rooney, 36, for libel over the October 2019 social media post, which accused Vardy of leaking the contents of his private Instagram account to journalists and ended with the infamous conclusion “It’s. .. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
In his testimony as a witness in the High Court trial that began on Tuesday, Vardy said Rooney “should have anticipated the reaction” to his claims, posted to around 3 million followers online, suggesting he had planned the disclosure to ” maximum impact”.
And he claimed that Rooney had told his private Instagram followers about the reveal in advance, when “he was happy to gloat and irritate the group members before he had a chance to respond,” Vardy said.
Rooney is fighting the libel case, insisting his original allegation that Vardy leaked stories to The Sun newspaper was true.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
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Vardy: Posts About ‘Leaked Woman Issue Story’ In 2018 Were ‘Joke’
Rebekah Vardy told the High Court she was “absolutely kidding” when she told her agent to leak a story about an affair between a footballer and a famous married TV personality. writes court correspondent Tristan Kirk.
Messages from September 2018 show Vardy telling his agent Caroline Watt to “leak the story” about the TV star “fucking”. [another man] behind [her partner’s] back”.
Vardy accepted reading the messages as if he was directing a leak, but told the court: “This is how you read it, but in context they are bits of information along with other bits of information. He was absolutely kidding about it.
“I was gossiping, that (information) was going around a lot.
“I used the word ‘leak’ where I probably shouldn’t use the word ‘leak’.”
Vardy said she had read news about the woman involved and said she was “shocked and disgusted” but denied orchestrating a leak on the matter.
“Our WhatsApps were sometimes outrageous, sometimes totally inappropriate,” he said of the messages with Ms Watt.
“These are a lot of conversations between friends gossiping, making fun of people.
“Yes, they don’t read very well, but there are always explanations for them.
“This was not just someone I knew, this was a friend.”
Vardy: Messages about Riyad Mahrez ‘harmless gossip’
Rebekah Vardy said it was “harmless gossip” when she contemplated passing a tip to a reporter about the strike of her husband’s teammate Riyad Mahrez, the High Court was told, writes court correspondent Tristan Kirk.
Messages aired on test show ‘Wagatha Christie’ Vardy told his agent Caroline Watt that Mahrez had failed to show up for training in Leicester in February 2018 while trying to force his move to Manchester City, adding: “The boys are furious”.
She is then accused of agreeing to Mrs Watt’s suggestion that the information could be passed on to a Sky Sports News reporter, with the caveat “I just don’t want it coming back on me”.
When asked about the incident and accused of breaking the trust of Leicester and her husband, Vardy called the messages “speculation and gossip”.
“It doesn’t look good,” he told the High Court. “He was gossiping about things that were already in the public domain and the press was camped out outside the training ground, taking pictures of players coming in and out.
“It was an interesting story, quite unusual for a player to go on strike and not show up when he was hired to train.”
Vardy insisted that his messages to Ms Watt were “speculation and just a bit of information that I heard and heard and also read in the press before”.
When pressed by Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne that she had discussed the news leak from the Leicester dressing room, Vardy said she definitely didn’t know Mahrez’s team-mates were “furious”. .”
Vardy insisted the information was not given to Sky News, adding: “We were just having a gossip about something that was already in the public domain. I didn’t see what harm that comment would do
“It was harmless gossip.”
Rooney’s team say the track was eventually turned over to The Sun newspaper, claiming it shows Vardy’s close relationship with the organization.
Coleen Rooney arrives in court for the second day of trial
Coleen Rooney, supported by her husband Wayne, has arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice as the high-profile libel battle enters its second day.
Vardy arrives in court for the second day of the trial
Rebekah Vardy arrived in High Court for the second day of her trial for her libel dispute with Coleen Rooney.
The mother of five was dressed completely in black, complete with sunglasses, a jacket, a long skirt and high heels.
Summary: Vardy’s evidence on the first meeting with Rooney at Euro 2016
Vardy also gave evidence in court about his first meeting with Coleen Rooney at Euro 2016, below:
“[Husband] Jamie knew Wayne Rooney (“Wayne”) professionally before our marriage,” she told the court.
“Wayne and Coleen sent us a wedding present in May 2016, but I didn’t really get to meet her in person until the June 2016 European Championship in France.
“I was alone with my daughter Sofia, who was a baby at the time, and pregnant with my son, Finley. I flew a lot in and out of France with Sofia during the weeks of the European Championships to support Jamie.
“I found it to be quite an isolating experience. I didn’t know what it was like to be part of the England football team and I didn’t like the feeling that people expected you to conform to the way other people behaved or the way the media wanted you to behave.
“I remember going out with Sofia and walking through the gardens. I met Coleen and her family and her children. We greeted her but she did not stop to engage in conversation.
“I remember thinking that if I had seen someone new just with a child, it would have made them feel a little more welcome and maybe I would have invited them out for a drink.
“I thought Coleen was probably already in a close enough circle that she might not be interested in me being part of a newcomer.”
Summary: Vardy told court Rooney was ‘calculated and cold’ after ‘Wagatha’ release
As evidence, Vardy told the court that Rooney was “calculated and cold” and said she could have used her influence to discourage trolls. Below is the evidence for it:
“Once he saw the reaction and I told him it wasn’t me, he should have used his influence and reach to call out the trolls. She didn’t do it,” she told the court.
“All she did was double down on her accusations while refusing to provide me with 2 of the posts she claimed I had leaked (the TV decisions and the flooded basement posts), even though I promptly asked for them.
“I had to endure pictures of her at a big party being harassed and photographed distraught and crying while people made fun of me. It was horrible. I was very scared for our baby.
I then called Coleen (our WhatsApp messages from that morning suggest we spoke within 30 minutes of seeing the post), but she didn’t answer right away and then called me on an unknown number. I felt like she was recording the entire call.
“I was hoping that once I told her it wasn’t me, she would just fix this. Instead, she accused me of leaking stories about her for years. I asked her to send me the stories that she believed she had leaked and she told me that she knew exactly what she had done.
“I asked her how she could do that to someone who was heavily pregnant and she replied that she had been leaking stories about her when she was pregnant.
“She told me that she wanted to make me feel paranoid the way she had felt paranoid. I still remember her tone on that phone call very vividly. It was extremely calculated and cold and she showed no remorse even though I was very upset. I found it very chilling and quite threatening.”
Summary: Vardy’s evidence on his reaction to Rooney’s accusation
Below is evidence from Vardy on her reaction to Rooney’s accusation that he was leaking stories about her:
“I started to get very hot and suffered from strange palpitations. A lot of messages started coming to my mobile phone and I was seeing these messages on Instagram calling me: “fucking rat”, “fucking bitch”, “who sells his friends”, he told the court.
“This abuse has continued. I was in such a high state of emotion because I was so pregnant and I felt like the whole world was crashing down on me. I must have been in shock.
“I remember I got out of the car and I was shaking and I thought I was going to get sick. I felt extremely paranoid and like everyone in the beach club was watching me. I thought I was going to pass out and Jamie decided we had to leave immediately.
“I don’t remember the trip back to the hotel very well because I was almost hyperventilating. He knew he had done nothing wrong. He hadn’t leaked those stories and didn’t even know which Posts he was supposed to have leaked.
“I started having very strong pains in my stomach when we got back to the hotel. They were contraction-like pains and I was terrified that the baby was in danger. I forced myself to calm down and tried to think clearly.
The first thing I did was call my oldest daughter’s school. She was 13 at the time and kids that age can be really mean to each other.
“She needed the school to be aware of the situation so they could try to protect her from being bullied by the other kids. All I cared about at the time was protecting my children. I knew there must be a mistake.”
Summary: What did we learn on day 1 of the ‘Wagatha Christie’ test?
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the second day of the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 10:30 am, but here is a summary of the key events that occurred on the first day of the trial.
Both sides filed opening written arguments, and Rebekah Vardy began testifying in her defamation lawsuit against Coleen Rooney, strongly denying that she was the source of the leaks.
She said she suffered from palpitations when she was seven months pregnant when she was publicly accused of leaking stories to the media about Coleen Rooney in October 2019.
Describing her case, Vardy’s attorney said she accepts her friend and agent Caroline Watt may have been behind the press leaks about Coleen Rooney, but insists “it’s not something she knew anything about,” he heard. the court.
Hugh Tomlinson QC also told the court that Rooney reveled “in the attention of the Agatha Christie story”.
However, Rooney’s attorneys questioned Vardy about a 2004 News of the World interview in which he revealed details of sex with singer Peter Andre and made a mockery of his “Chipolitan” masculinity.
Vardy accepted that the article was “not nice” and “absolutely” disrespectful to Andre, but insisted that he did not want to participate in the interview.
She said Peter Andre’s story was in “completely different” circumstances than the current legal case.
“I was forced into a situation,” she added. “It’s horrible, would I ever do something like that again? Not in a million years.”
Reference-www.standard.co.uk