Rebekah Vardy was left “extremely saddened and disappointed” after losing her libel lawsuit to… Coleen Rooneywith the judge ruling in favor of her former boyfriend.
The WAGs’ legal battle began in 2019 when stories appeared in The Sun that, according to Rooney, had been sold to the press by Vardy, revealing fabricated details about her private life.
Rooney was nicknamed ‘Wagatha Christie’ after she performed a months-long stab operation on Instagram and concluded that it was Jamie Vardy’s wife who leaked the stories.
However, Vardy vehemently denied the allegations and sued Wayne Rooney‘s wife as a result.
The high-profile trial lasted just over a week and had everyone hooked on its lots of bombshells, unbearable text messages and lots and lots of tears.
Now Vardy has ended up with hefty legal costs after the trial verdict was revealed – and she is predicted to pay up to £2million.
Michael Skrein, libel attorney and senior partner at Reed Smith, said that although the Wagatha case has been going on for more than two years, the verdict is not the end of the story.
He says we can expect another hearing in a few months, where the charges will be determined and Vardy will reveal whether she wants to appeal the verdict.
He explains the following steps: ‘At this point, the costs of the case are unknown, but the usual outcome is that the losing side pays the costs of the winner. Once the court has decided that, the parties will agree on the amount to be paid, failing which it is up to the court. They are almost never 100% of the final bill.
“Since Vardy will have to pay her own attorneys’ fees and most likely about two-thirds of Rooney’s, she could pay close to £2million in total.”
As to whether Vardy can appeal, Skrein says an appeal should be on the basis that the judge was “wrong.”
‘Mrs Justice Steyn is a respected judge and she has delivered a long and careful sentence. I would be surprised if the court allowed an appeal,” he says.
However, Vardy expressed her views on the judge’s ruling in a statement issued after the verdict was announced, and it appears she does indeed believe she was “wrong.”
“It’s not the result I expected or thought was fair. I have brought this action to justify my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s finding,” she said.
The judge accepted that publishing Coleen’s post was not in the ‘public interest’ and she also rejected her claim that I was the ‘Secret Wag’. But as for the rest of her judgment, she was wrong and I cannot accept this.’
Rooney, on the other hand, is “satisfied” with the outcome of the trial, although he admits it shouldn’t have gone to court in the first place.
“It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I would never have believed that in times of hardship it would have had to go to court for so many people at such a high cost, when the money could have been much better spent helping others,” Rooney said.
She added that the “leaks of my private Instagram account started in 2017” and that they “continued for nearly two years”, eventually “invading my privacy and that of my family”.
“While I will not tolerate Ms Vardy ill will, today’s verdict makes it clear that I was correct in what I said in my October 2019 posts,” Rooney added.
“I want to thank my entire legal team, my family, friends and everyone who has supported me, including the public, during this difficult and stressful time.”
What happens next remains to be seen…
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