three “false” stories Coleen Rooney claims to have uploaded to her private Instagram account during a months-long “sting operation” are at the center of her libel dispute with Rebekah Vardy.
In her now famous October 2019 social media post, Ms Rooney claimed that her fellow footballer’s account was the only one to see the posts and claimed that information from them had been leaked to The sun newspaper – something Ms Vardy denies being responsible for.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what was heard in court about the social media posts:
– The Gender Selection Post
Ms. Rooney claims to have posted this “sting operation” on April 8, 2019 over a so-called gender selection treatment.
The post included a photo of the back seat of an airplane with the caption “Let’s see what this gender selection is all about.”
She claims the made-up Instagram post was flagged as “seen” only by Ms Vardy’s account, with her lawyers providing a screen grab to the High Court.
In August of that year, the Sun published an article claiming that Ms. Rooney had traveled to Mexico to investigate the treatment.
The story, with the byline of journalist Andy Halls, is under the headline “COL’S BABYGIRL BID Coleen Rooney traveled to Mexico to investigate £8k ‘gender selection’ treatment in a desperate bid to get a girl”.
The article, which refers to “a source” and “friends,” claimed that Ms. Rooney “wants her fifth baby to be a girl so desperately that she wants to hear more about a process “in which doctors examine embryos in a lab before they become pregnant.” implanted only those of the desired sex back into the womb”.
– The flooded basement pile
Ms Rooney says she shared false information about her basement being flooded on October 2, 2019 in another post about a “sting operation”.
She again claimed to the Supreme Court that the post was only viewed by Ms Vardy’s Instagram account.
Her lawyers shared a screenshot of the post showing a bottle of wine that reads, “needed after today…flooding in the basement of our new house…when things seemed to be going so well.”
On October 8, The Sun ran a story, headlined by Simon Boyle’s byline: “IN ROO-INS Wayne and Coleen Rooney’s £20million £20million ‘Morrisons mansion’ flooded during Storm Lorenzo”.
The article, citing a “source close to the couple”, claimed to reveal that bad weather had “wrought havoc” at a Cheshire property, with Ms Rooney “called to discover that the cellar had been flooded”.
– TV decisions post
According to Ms. Rooney, a made-up private message was posted on September 25, 2019 about planning a return to TV.
She says it had a “selfie” on it and read “Up and out!! I’m going back to work!! TV decisions today….maybe it’s time for Australia” and claims it was only seen by Mrs Vardy’s account.
Three days later, a Sun article under the name of Michael Hamilton was published under the headline “ROO-MBA Coleen Rooney in talks to join Strictly next year as she aims to revive TV career when Wayne returns to the UK”.
It quoted an anonymous source as claiming to disclose exclusively that Ms Rooney was “talking to producers”, planned to “provide a fashion show” and “might do” the Strictly Come Dancing TV show.
The court learned that Hamilton has denied that Ms Vardy or her agent Caroline Watt were the source of the article.
Ms. Rooney’s lawyers have accepted that the post and article “do not quite match”, but claim the timing was “very close” and that it has fueled and therefore support Ms Rooney’s suspicions about her information being leaked. her defense that the covert operation was in question. public interest.