“Wagatha Christie” – A Premier League Case Of Defamation

A battle between Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney on the pitch would no doubt find Vardy coming out on top, with him being in his prime and Rooney, questionably towards the end of his playing career. Similarly, a recent case off the pitch between their respective wives saw a Vardy victory.

Vardy v Rooney [2020] EWHC 3156 (QB)

This case began in 2019 when Coleen Rooney accused Rebekah Vardy of leaking information to the press about the Rooney’s personal life. This accusation was made public when Coleen Rooney posted details across her social media pages, including Twitter and Instagram.

In response, Rebekah claimed defamation and sought to take action against Coleen on the basis her accusations were false and had caused the family considerable distress. Rebekah’s mental health suffered as a result of the public’s reaction and during proceedings, it was noted Rebekah attended hospital a number of times for anxiety attacks. The distress did not only affect Rebekah as Coleen’s accusations also caused Jamie Vardy to be the subject of abuse and as a result, her children were no longer able to attend his games.

In defence to the claim, Coleen pleaded that her posts were not aimed at Rebekah directly, but towards Rebekah’s social media accounts. Coleen suggested her accusation was to be against anyone who had control of Rebekah’s Instagram account, and therefore not precisely Rebekah. If this defence was successful, Rebekah’s claim would have failed as she would be unable to show Coleen’s post was aimed at her. This defence would be possible as it is typical for celebrities and people in the public eye to have agents manage their social media accounts to ensure nothing damaging is posted.

The Judge at the initial hearing on 19th November therefore had to decide whether the post sufficiently identified Rebekah solely or just those with access to her social media accounts. The Judge found in Rebekah’s favour and it was held Coleen’s post appeared to be placing the sole blame on Rebekah. The case will now proceed to investigate whether defamation can be established and if so, the extent of the damage caused. Coleen will no doubt seek to raise her accusations made were true and may look to prove Rebekah was in fact responsible for leaking information to the press.

We may however never know the findings of this case as they have decided there will be a pause in the case until February for the purpose of discussing an early settlement/agreement.