September 2017 to October 2019
The Sun newspaper has published a number of articles about Rooney, including her traveling to Mexico to look into the “sex selection” treatment of babies, her plan to revive her TV career, and the flooding of her basement.
October 9, 2019: It’s……… Rebekah Vardy’s account
Rooney shared a statement on her public Instagram and Twitter, claiming that her colleague WAG Vardy had been selling fake stories to the press.
In a rather genius plot, Rooney revealed that she had shared fake stories to her own Instagram stories after she suspected that one of her followers was leaking stories from her private account to the press.
Saying her suspicions that someone had sold the stories to the tabloids, Rooney continued in what has now become pop culture canon: “I saved all the original stories and took screenshots, which clearly show only one person watched them. It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s bill.’
Rebekah Vardy denies the allegations
Vardy immediately fired back with her own statement, denying that she had leaked any stories.
February 13, 2020: Vardy is on TV
In a tearful appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Vardy – who previously said she wanted a forensic investigation into the leaks – said the stress of the dispute was causing her severe anxiety attacks and that she ” ended up in hospital three times”.
Rooney said in a statement that she does not want to “interfere in further public debate”.
June 23, 2020: Vardy launches libel suit against Rooney
Vardy’s lawyers claim she ‘suffered extreme suffering’pain, fear and embarrassment from the publication of the post and the events that followed’.
November 19-20, 2020: The fight against defamation has its first hearing at the Supreme Court in London
A judge rules that Rooney’s October 2019 post “clearly identified” Vardy as “guilty of the serious and consequent breach of trust.”
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the “natural and ordinary” meaning of the posts was that Vardy had “regularly and often abused her status as a trusted follower of Mrs Rooney’s personal Instagram account by secretly notifying The Sun of Mrs. Rooney’s private messages and stories.”
February 8-9, 2022: A series of messages between Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt is revealed during a preliminary trial
The court is told that Vardy was not referring to Rooney when she called someone a “nasty bitch” in a conversation with Watt.
Rooney’s lawyers are seeking more information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told Watt’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave before any further information could be extracted from it.
February 14, 2022: Rooney denied permission to file Supreme Court claim against Watt
Rooney was denied permission to file a claim against Watt for misuse of private information to be heard in addition to fighting defamation.
A Supreme Court judge, Ms Justice Steyn, says the bid was made late and previous opportunities to file the claim had not been taken.
April 13, 2022: Ms Watt is not fit to testify verbally
The Supreme Court is told that Watt will not testify at the upcoming libel trial as the case returns for a new hearing.
The agent withdraws permission to use her testimony and retracts her waiver, which allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
April 29, 2022: Rebekah Vardy ‘seems to accept’ her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories
Rooney’s attorney David Sherborne tells the Supreme Court that Vardy “appears to accept” that her agent Watt was the source of the allegedly leaked stories, and states that a new witness statement from Vardy suggests Watt was the source.
Vardy claims she “didn’t authorize or condone her.”
Vardy’s attorney Hugh Tomlinson says the statement contained “no change in the case argued” and her legal team had no communication with Ms Watt.
May 10-19, 2022: The trial begins
Vardy and Rooney come face to face in court as their libel trial takes place in the Royal Courts of Justice in London for Mrs Steyn. Both women testify as revelations about the case make daily headlines in the British press.
Day One – The Chipolata
The first day of the trial ends when Mr. Sherborne dramatically reveals a News Of The World article in which Vardy spoke of an alleged sexual encounter with singer Peter Andre. The lawyer reads the headline to the court and says: ‘Peter hangs like a little chipolata, shaved, drool, lasts five minutes’. Vardy responds by saying she was “forced into a situation” by her ex-husband.
Outside of the case, Andre would later discuss the article, expressing his anger, the comments about his body were brought up repeatedly after 15 years.
May 20, 2022: Screenshots of Coleen Rooney’s Instagram Released
An agreed 313-page bundle of evidence is released, including photos from Rooney’s Instagram account and screenshots where Vardy complained to husband Jamie Vardy about being made a ‘scapegoat’ during Euro 2016.