Rebekah Vardy’s anguish as ‘Coleen Rooney cost her career with lost deals’
Rebekah Vardy voiced her distress as she says her career tumbled because of her dispute with Coleen Rooney that reportedly lost her a book deal and an unusual medical partnership.
Rebekah’s libel case against Coleen stems from a viral social media post in October 2019.
Coleen was dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’ after carrying out a ‘sting operation’ that resulted in her accusing Rebekah of leaking personal information to the media.
Both sides are awaiting a decision after the High Court finished hearing the case on Thursday as evidence at the centre of the £3 million case was released, the Mirror reported.
Rebekah says Coleen’s allegations “impacted” her work including a “potential book deal that was turned down”.
Brand deals were also affected, she says, claiming: “I had a midwife company lined up to make placenta capsules and they pulled out weeks before the birth.”
Her comments were included in a witness statement now released along with a huge cache of messages and pictures.
Dubbed the Wagatha Files, they include cringe-worthy WhatsApp messages between footballer Jamie Vardy and his wife Rebekah, who complained of being made a “scapegoat” during Euro 2016.
The trial heard that during the tournament, England captain Wayne Rooney was taken aside by manager Roy Hodgson and ordered to have a word with Jamie, to suggest he ask his wife to “calm down” her media activities because they were “causing problems and distractions”.
The new cache of messages show Rebekah shared an article link with her husband that reported Wayne had held such “talks” with Mr Vardy.
“Seriously????” Mrs Vardy messaged Jamie.
Mr Vardy replied: “No not at all babes x” to which Mrs Vardy said “Tw*ts trying to make me into a scapegoat X.”
Then Mr Vardy sent: “F***ing arseholes x”
Sharing another article saying that Wayne had asked Jamie to speak to his wife about “lowering her social media profile”, Rebekah appeared to take a direct dig at Coleen, saying: “Jesus. this must have come from somewhere. Bet it’s his Mrs Manager.”
“Haha no1 said a word, probably the bloody FA,” Jamie replied.
Jamie later complained about how the media “Build us up to smash us back down”. Rebekah replied: “Yeah, exactly,” and Jamie added: “F*** them. They ain’t bringing us down x.”
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Wayne Rooney claimed he had “100%” had an “awkward” conversation with his teammate Vardy.
On oath, he told how he remembered Jamie drinking a Red Bull, as he enjoyed a coffee.
In a statement issued outside the trial, Jamie said that Wayne, now manager at Derby County, was “talking nonsense”.
Jamie blasted: “He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky’s media work at Euro 2016.
“There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky.”
Also in the Wagatha Files was a previously unpublished photo from Coleen’s private Instagram account from October 31, 2017, showing Wayne in bed with three of his sons in spotted pyjamas.
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The court had heard she only posted the image on her private account as she did not want to fuel stories about her and Wayne’s relationship.
It came after their marriage hit the rocks when he was caught drink-driving in another woman’s car.
She said she had made a “conscious decision” not to upload the photograph of him to her public Instagram account due to “the difficulties between us at the time”.
But she was left furious after a story emerged in The Sun based on the image and posted to her followers: “The GRASS strikes again!!!! I put that picture on wondering if it would appear in that horrible newspaper.”
An October 24, 2017 post celebrating her husband’s birthday was also revealed.
Lawyers have also shared a screenshot of Mrs Rooney’s so-called “TV decisions” post, among the fake news she claims to have uploaded to her private Instagram as part of a ‘sting operation’ to discover who was leaking her private information.
Posted on September 25, 2019, it featured a selfie of Mrs Rooney and the text: “Up and out!! Easing my way back into work!! TV decisions…. maybe it’s time for Australia.”
Another post made on March 18, 2019 showed a photo of a bar she was at celebrating St Patrick’s Day with her husband and the caption: “We’re back… took kids home….. we finally have a babysitter”.
Coleen claims The Sun made enquiries about her and her husband going on “lots of dates” in Washington, where the couple then lived, after finding a babysitter they trusted.
While no article was published about the babysitter post, Coleen believes it was probably another leak from her private Instagram account.
There are several posts showing photos from a girls’ weekend in the Cotswolds, with Wayne’s cousin Claire and two friends attending.
In one image, Coleen was seen riding on a bike holding a bottle of wine, while Claire posted a picture of the women in a hot tub.
A story in The Sun later mentioned she was seen “swigging a bottle of plonk while cycling at speed”.
In a viral social media post in October 2019, Coleen, 36, said she had carried out a ‘sting operation’ and accused Rebekah, 40, of leaking ‘false stories’ about her private life.
Mrs Vardy denied leaking stories to the media and sued her fellow footballer’s wife for libel, while Coleen defended the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
Both women gave evidence during the seven-day trial of the case.
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