Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

‘I can’t let her get away with this’: How Rebekah Vardy reacted to Coleen Rooney’s ‘Wagatha’ reveal post

Ms Rooney ‘had weaponised her fan base against me’, Ms Vardy told the High Court

Holly Bancroft
Friday 20 May 2022 20:32 BST
Comments
Rebekah Vardy is seeking significant damages for defamation from Ms Rooney
Rebekah Vardy is seeking significant damages for defamation from Ms Rooney (EPA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Head shot of Andrew Feinberg

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Rebekah Vardy messaged her agent the day of Coleen Rooney’s ‘Wagatha Christie’ reveal post to say “I can’t just sit back and let her get away with this.”

Ms Vardy, 40, is suing Ms Rooney, 36, for defamation over the post, which accused her of leaking stories about Ms Rooney’s personal life to The Sun. The seven day trial ended at the High Court on Thursday and Ms Justice Steyn is now considering her judgement.

In messages to her agent, submitted as evidence to the court, Ms Vardy said: “I can’t just sit back and let her get away with this. I’m getting so much abuse, people who I thought were my friends are turning on me. Megs is getting sh** at school this is not just a ignore and move on for me x”.

Ms Vardy had previously sent screenshots of the abuse she was receiving to her agent Caroline Watt with the message: “Jesus Christ I hope she’s f****** happy now x”.

(PA)

Speaking about why she posted the infamous message in court, Ms Rooney said: “I wasn’t trying to achieve anything. What I wanted was to stop the person who was leaking my private information to The Sun.”

Referring to The Sun’s stories, she said: “It didn’t stop and this was my last resort.”

Ms Rooney said: “I was surprised myself by how much interest [the post] caused.”

Ms Rooney said it was never her intention for Ms Vardy to be trolled on social media.

“That was not my intention at all, not at all. It is not in my nature to cause abuse or trauma in any way at all,” she said.

The court had previously heard how Rebekah Vardy had initially found out about Ms Rooney’s reveal post from her agent, who sent her the Twitter post in a Whatsapp message.

Ms Vardy reacted, telling her agent: “Wow that’s war.” The 40-year-old spoke about the days following Ms Rooney’s big reveal in court. “It seemed she had weaponised her fan base against me, and I was desperately trying to do something to diffuse the situation,” she said during cross-examination.

Mrs Vardy told the court that during a subsequent phone call with Ms Rooney, the latter “quite frankly revelled in my anguish and upset”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in