Rebecca Vardy was accused of betraying her friends and her teammates yesterday when she was annoyed by WhatsApp reports in the WAGatha Christie defamation trial.
During five hours of grueling cross-examination that at some point made her cry, Mrs. Vardy denied that she had encouraged her agent to “follow” Colin Rooney’s private Instagram and highlight stories about her and other WAGs.
The 40-year-old Mrs. Vardy has faced reports in which she has discussed leaks and sales of stories, and has faced repeated accusations that she lied to the court to defend the “last piece” of her case against Mrs. Rooney.
She dismissed accusations that she had disclosed “juicy information” to settle accounts with competing WAGs while seeking positive publicity by organizing stage photos and interviews to promote her image.
Ms. Vardy, a mother of five, burst into tears when confronted with one such interview in which she recounted how vile online trolls threatened to rape her daughter.
Unusual details of life inside the WAG bubble were heard in a $ 5 million defamation lawsuit, including horrific allegations of extramarital affairs, fierce rivalry and backstabbing.
The case focused on Mrs. Rooney’s post on social media in 2019, in which she said she planted fake stories on her private Instagram account and accused Mrs. Vardy of giving them to The Sun.
Ms. Vardy rejected this claim and opened a defamation case when Mrs. Rooney refused to resign.
“I WANT PAYMENTS FOR IT”
Ms. Vardy, who is married to Leicester City star Jamie, has admitted that she was willing to highlight the story of the arrest of his teammate Danny Drinkwater for drunk driving.
The court heard a series of WhatsApp exchanges between her and her agent Caroline Watt, in which Mrs. Vardy said: “The story … Danny Drinkwater has been arrested … crashed into his car drunk with (two) girls. . “I want to pay for it.”
Mrs. Watt said she had contacted The Sun, but the newspaper already knew about the arrest, and Mrs. Vardy replied:. .I’m angry that I didn’t give you this before.
Mrs. Watt said, “Me too, that would be a whole fortune.”
Asked yesterday whether she wanted to pay for the leak at The Sun, Mrs Vardy said it was a “fleeting thought” and denied that it was part of the usual scheme in which she instructed Mrs Watt to publish stories for payment.
She insisted that the episode with Mr. Drinkwater was a one-off because she found drunk driving disgusting.
The player later admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol, and was banned from driving.
Lawyer David Sherborn of Mrs. Rooney said, “Even though he’s from your circle, were you willing to share his personal information?” Ms. Vardy replied, “Yes, on that occasion, because of his behavior.”
Mrs. Rooney, who wore a Zara dress with a pattern for 60 Australian dollars and Chanel shoes, carefully watched as Mrs. Vardy testified, and wrote notes in a notebook.
Mrs. Vardy chose a black Prada dress for 3,200 Australian dollars, a McQueen jacket for 2,200 Australian dollars and a Givenchy handbag for 3,000 Australian dollars.
“GO INTO INSTAGRAM”
She was asked about her reports from Mrs. Watt about a story on Instagram related to the damage to Mrs. Rooney’s car.
Mrs. Watt wrote her a message on WhatsApp asking if Mrs. Rooney had broken her Honda.
Ms. Vardy replied, “She is defo. . “Come to Instagram.”
She denied that she actually told her agent access to Mrs. Rooney’s private Instagram, which she could view through Mrs. Vardy’s account.
Mrs. Watt sent the message again, saying, “I would have tried to make a story about Colin, but the evidence was removed.”
Mr Sherborn said Mrs Vardy and her agent supported “constant comments” on Mrs Rooney’s messages and claimed to have been following her Instagram for information leaks.
Mrs. Vardy denied this, saying that she and Mrs. Watt were only old friends who liked to gossip.
The Sun later published an article about Mrs. Rooney’s car, and she blocked Mrs. Vardy in her Instagram, suspecting that someone was leaking information about her.
In WhatsApp reports, Mrs. Vardy asked why Mrs. Rooney blocked her, saying, “She thinks it’s me telling her stories!”. . . This **** has to overcome itself ”.
Mrs. Vardy refused to give information about Mrs. Rooney, or instructed Mrs. Watt to do so.
But she was asked about a series of WhatsApp exchanges with Mrs. Watt, during which they seem to have discussed the information leak.
Mr Sherborn said she wanted to “make a mess” on her teammate Leicester’s teammate Riyadh Marez when he refused to train with the club.
She contacted Mrs. Watt, and the agent suggested she tell a Sky Sports reporter.
Mrs. Vardy replied, “I just don’t want it coming back to me.”
Mrs. Watt then offered to contact the journalist.
Mrs. Vardy denied that she or Mrs. Watt were behind any stories about Mr. Mares.
‘LEARN HISTORY’
Mrs. Vardy encouraged her agent to come up with a story about a celebrity called “Mrs. F.” who had an affair with a footballer called “G,” Mr. Sherborn suggested.
In 2018, she wrote to Mrs. Watt, saying, “Oh, you’ve seen how badly Mrs. F. is behaving to me. She’s absolutely disgusting to me. A leak of a story about her s **** nu G behind her (her husband).
Ms. Vardy told the court that her words were not instructions to divert the story, but that she was “joking.”
Ms. Vardy denied that she wanted to highlight information about Daniel Lloyd, the ex-wife of former Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara, because the couple had an “Instagram quarrel.”
A WhatsApp message from Mrs. Vardy read: “She left and did it, now leaking materials to the Maldives x.”
Ms. Vardy said she was referring to an interview given by Miss Lloyd in which she said she went on a honeymoon to the Maldives and then suffered a miscarriage.
She insisted that “no information had been learned” about Ms. Lloyd.
“DON’T GIVE HIM THINGS MR X”
The court learned that Mrs. Watt asked Mrs. Vardy why she was blocked on Instagram and if she thought Mrs. Rooney suspected she was the source of the stories.
Ms. Vardy replied, “I just don’t know how she’ll ever find out if (Sun journalist Andy) Halls doesn’t highlight it, and in that case, please don’t give him Mr. X’s stuff.”
Ms. Watt said, “I wrote to him (Hols), and he said categorically no, and he will never say his source.”
The court ruled that Mr. X was a married football player who gave birth to a child by another woman.
Ms. Vardy denied that she had instructed Mrs. Watt not to give information, “until you are sure that Mr. Halls has not captured you,” saying, “This is my way of communicating with her so as not to give information to journalists.”
She denied that she usually gave information to her agent for The Sun.
The case continues.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/soccer/wagatha-christie-trial-teary-rebekah-vardy-denies-leaking-juicy-info-to-media-to-settle-scores–c-6771834
