Rebekah Vardy tells court she felt ‘bullied and manipulated’ on witness stand in libel trial
‘I wanted to clear my name,’ 40-year-old tells court
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rebekah Vardy has told the High Court she felt “bullied and intimidated” as a witness in the libel trial against fellow footballer’s wife Coleen Rooney.
The 40-year-old finished giving evidence on Friday, four days after she first took the stand in the case which centres around Ms Vardy being accused of leaking information about Ms Rooney’s private life to the press.
Speaking in a wobbling voice at the end of her witness testimony, Ms Vardy said: “I didn’t do anything wrong and I wanted to clear my name, and I wanted it not just for me but for my family and my children.”
Her lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, asked Ms Vardy: “How have you find the process of answering questions in this court?”
The model, who is married to Premier League footballer Jamie Vardy, replied: “Exhausting, intimidating, I feel like I’ve been builled and manipulated.”
During her four days of evidence, Ms Vardy has broken down in tears on several occasions - including when online abuse she has received was mentioned in court.
As Mr Tomlinson concluded his questioning of her on Friday, Ms Vardy made a series of denials over the allegations that she was linked to leaks from Ms Rooney’s private Instagram account.
She denied personally leaking information to The Sun, denied speaking to or messaging any journalists about any of Ms Rooney’s posts, denied asking her agent Caroline Watt to pass on information and denied deleting messages from her WhatsApp.
The High Court trial centres on an explosive social media post by Ms Rooney in 2019, which detailed an elaborate scheme to work out who was leaking stories from her Instagram to the press and earned her the nickname “Wagatha Christie”. It concluded: “It’s...... Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Ms Vardy denies the allegations and is suing her fellow footballer’s wife for libel.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments