Coleen Rooney told the High Court that it was her "last resort" to send the viral “It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account” post to a tabloid newspaper.
The post went viral in 2019, with Mrs Rooney accusing Rebekah Vardy, wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press after she carried out what she called a ' sting operation '. Mrs Vardy denies that she was leaking stories to the media and is now is suing Mrs Rooney for libel, while Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
On Friday afternoon, Mrs Rooney be was questioned by Mrs Vardy’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC as she started giving evidence in the Royal Courts of Justice. When asked what she aimed to achieve with the post, she said: "I wasn’t achieving anything, what I wanted was to stop the person who was leaking my private information to The S*n.”
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She said that she had given out warnings "many times", but that the leaks "didn't stop". She added: "This was my last resort."
When it was suggested that Mrs Rooney must've known the social media post would've led to Mrs Vardy recieving abuse, Mrs Rooney said: "No, that was not my intention at all, not at all,” and that it was not in her "nature to”.
The original post was widely shared online with even Jeremy Corbyn, who was the Leader of the Opposition and the Labour Party at the time, posting his own parody.
Mrs Rooney said she was "surprised" by "how much interest" her post received. She said: “Obviously it was going to get picked up by the media”.
She explained that her life had been a subject of media attention "no matter how big or small" for the last 20 years.
Asked by Mr Tomlinson if she had a “large loyal following” on social media, Mrs Rooney replied: “I have a large following, yes – loyal, I’m not too sure about.”
Mrs Rooney is defending the libel claim brought by Mrs Vardy on the basis of truth and public interest.
Mrs Vardy brought the libel case against Mrs Rooney after she publicly claimed that Mrs Vardy was behind an account that leaked three fake stories, detailed in posts on her personal Instagram account, to a tabloid newspaper.
The fake stories Mrs Rooney planted on her Instagram during the 'sting operation' featured her travelling to Mexico for a “gender selection” procedure, her planning to return to TV and the basement flooding at her home.
In the post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, she wrote: “I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
