Rebekah Vardy suffered a humiliating defeat on Friday as she lost her £3million libel case against Coleen Rooney after a three-year legal battle.
The case had centered on Coleen’s claims that Rebekah leaked information to The Sun based on posts from the former’s private Instagram account, with a packed two-week hearing at the High Court in May seeing both Rebekah, 40, and Coleen, 36, give dramatic testimony from the witness box.
As many celebrities and public figures rushed to declare whether they were #TeamRooney or #TeamVardy in the ongoing case, branding experts have claimed there’s still good news for Rebekah as there will be plenty of attention from brands and the media coming her way.
Now MailOnline takes a closer look at exactly what Rebekah’s future could hold following her legal loss.
Rebekah Vardy will STILL make money from Wagatha Christie trial despite losing to Coleen Rooney: ‘Panto villain’ can cash in on chat shows and modelling (which will help pay off those £3M legal bills)
What brands and endorsement deals will Rebekah get?
Talent manager Jonathan Shalit told MailOnline that the WAG will easily be able to command deals with edgy fashion brands and chat show appearances, but she’s lost any chance of booking more family-friendly deals.
Expert: Talent manager Jonathan Shalit spoke to MailOnline about the potential fallout from the Wagatha Christie case
He explained: ‘Rebekah’s not going to get a family brand going for her in the way Coleen is.
‘If you’re a dangerous brand, in the way that Johnny Depp has dangerous brands working with him, Rebekah may get interest.
‘I think in the context of the world we live in today, Rebekah is a stylish, attractive woman. I can still see clothing brands working with her because she makes clothes look good.
‘So, if you want to be a hot girl out on the pull, Rebekah dressed in a foxy outfit would add value.
‘She could make £2 million with these deals.
‘I think for provocative TV shows, Rebekah is probably more interesting. Coleen is more discrete and more private, and doesn’t want to put herself out there.’
Jonathan added: ‘In this sort of mad world we live in, being the villain doesn’t mean you don’t make money. People will still want to book her. People are transfixed by her.
‘Win or lose, people are going to want to know more about Rebekah so she’ll get on chat shows, reality shows, so she’ll still make a lot of money. The money she makes will be from being the pantomime villain.’
What does this mean for her fame status?
Jonathan said: ‘Both their social media followings will go up more.
‘Both those ladies, people are interested in them and in this marketplace, they’ve got to be interested in you, and people are fascinated in them both.
‘Neither are in a situation of from suffering from a lack of interest.
‘What she’ll have to put up with is deeply unpleasant comments on social media. If you decide to engage with social media, that’s a consequence.’
What impact will his have on her celebrity circle?
Jonathan added: ‘I don’t think anyone takes the court case that seriously because of the nature of what it was, it wasn’t life or death type of stuff and it wasn’t dastardly, nasty crimes. It was two people having a social media spat.
‘I think you’ve got to put this into context. In the context of what it is, it’s like two kids having an argument and it’s quite comical in a way.
‘Obviously it’s not farcical to them, it’s quite serious, but to the rest of the world it was quite comical.
‘And I think the consequence is that Rebekah will be the pantomime villain.
‘If Rebekah wins, clearly that’s going to help her but I don’t think it will make much difference if she wins the trial or not, I think people have made up their minds on her.
‘(In terms of celebrities wanted to be associated with either Coleen or Rebekah) I think the level they’re at, it doesn’t make any difference.’
So what’s next for Rebekah?
Pop culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline: ‘We have seen Rebekah first hand manipulate the truth and come across as a very vindictive woman.
‘Her portrayal of Peter Andre and comments will always stick with her and that’s nothing to do with this case.
‘Her relationship with the media is up for scrutiny and her words about Coleen are loud and clear for everyone to see.
Candid: PR expert Nick Ede gave MailOnline an insight into how the public’s perception may change after the trial
‘I think that she will find it very hard to be a celebrity. Even if she’d won she would not have gained the right kind of notoriety that can make some people anti-heroes.
‘Her reputation is damaged and there is no way back for her. We sometimes forget that she was the one who brought this to court so she has a lot to lose and if she does lose then she will be seen as a gaslighter who has literally tried to fool the nation and, more to the point, will have to live with this for the rest of her life, as will her husband and children.
‘There will be documentaries made about this and I am sure a few made-for-TV films and dramatisations, and she could profit from these if she is given the opportunity to give her side.
‘Look at Anna Sorokin who fooled the elite went to prison and is now profiting from that, and is a born again celebrity.’
Talent manager Jonathan told MailOnline: ‘I think for Rebakah, if she loses, the downside is not good.
‘It’s going to be public enemy number one. She would not come out of that court case looking good, she would come out of that court case looking fairly dishonest.
‘I’m not saying she is, I don’t know that, but what I’m saying is she and her agent seemed to be in cahoots in leaking stories and selling stories and that came out of the evidence that came out in the press.
‘The outcome of both her and her agent is that they’re two people not to be trusted.
What happened in the trial?
Mother-of-five Rebekah broke down several times in the witness box in May as she detailed the horrific attacks she had been subject to – while heavily pregnant – on social media from Coleen’s supporters following the bombshell accusation in October 2019.
Coleen had earned the nickname ‘Wagatha Christie’ after her famous social media post revealed she had set up a sting operation by limiting her Instagram posts to only one recipient… Rebekah’s account.
Private Instagram posts Rooney alleged were shared with the press without her permission included a visit to a gender selection clinic in Mexico, her planned return to TV and a flooded basement in her new mansion.
Quickly grabbing the public’s attention, the case was dubbed Wagatha Christie in homage to the world-famous British crime novelist Agatha Christie.
In June 2020, Rebekah began a libel action against Coleen, arguing that the accusation over her Instagram account was false.
Following an earlier ‘meanings’ ruling, it fell to Coleen to prove Rebekah was personally responsible for leaking stories to The Sun, or convince the judge that publication of the allegation was in the public interest.
Rebekah claimed that Coleen’s famous ‘…It’s Rebekah Vardy’s account’ post, published while Mrs Vardy was pregnant, cost her a book deal and an endorsement for placenta capsules, while also acting as a lightning rod for people to abuse her on social media.
Following the nine-day hearing, Coleen was said to be extremely confident she would win, even missing the last day of the case to go on holiday to Dubai with her husband, former England and Manchester United striker Wayne and their four sons.
In her absence, her barrister, David Sherborne, described Rebekah as a ‘highly unreliable witness’ while accusing her of lying to the court in her testimony.
The mother-of-five told friends that while the trial has been a painful experience, she was glad to the public now know ‘the truth’ and also believed she will win.
Coleen, whose husband Wayne is England’s all-time top goal scorer, claimed the post was a ‘last resort’ after coming to the conclusion someone was leaking information about her to The Sun, but has defended it as being true.
The accusations flew thick and fast as the hearing played out in the august surroundings of the Royal Courts of Justice, each side trying to land a fatal blow.
Intimate insights about the Rooneys’ marriage were revealed, Peter Andre’s ‘chipolata’ manhood was even dragged into the proceedings and the court heard about a mysterious celebrity love triangle.
Each day as the glamorous mothers entered court, their expensive outfits would be identified and dissected by fashion fans as the trench warfare continued in wood-panelled Court 13.
Wayne Rooney, then manager of Derby County FC, was a steadfast presence at his wife’s side in the front row of the court.
Jamie Vardy only appeared towards the end of the trial and was not present in court during Rebekah’s gruelling two days’ testimony in the witness box.
During the trial, Coleen’s barrister David Sherborne argued that Rebekah had a ‘habitual and established practice’ of leaking information about those she knew – through her friend and former agent Caroline Watt – to The Sun newspaper.
Discussing Coleen’s viral ‘reveal’ post, her barrister added: ‘It is what she believed at the time… and it is what she believes even more so now that we have got to the end of the case.’
However, Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Rebekah, said Coleen had ‘failed to produce any evidence’ that Rebekah had ‘regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower’ of her private Instagram account by passing on information from it to The Sun.
Mr Tomlinson said the libel battle was a ‘very simple case’ when ‘one clears away the conspiracy theories’.
He added: ‘Mrs Vardy’s case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak.
‘She does not know to this day what happened,’ Mr Tomlinson said, adding: ‘She does not know where this information came from.’
The barrister added that Rebekah suffered ‘very serious harm to her reputation’ as a result of Coleen’s post.
Some WhatsApp messages sent by Rebekah Vardy’s agent were not part of the footballer’s wife’s libel claim because her former agent Caroline Watt’s phone was in ‘Davy Jones’ locker’ after falling into the North Sea, the High Court was told.
The court heard Mrs Vardy’s agent lost her phone after a judge said it should be searched.
Mr Sherborne said Caroline Watt was ‘filming the coastline’ while on a boat trip in Scotland and dropped her phone, with Ms Watt ‘unable to retrieve it’.
Mr Sherborne said it was a ‘shame’ that messages between journalists – who had allegedly been leaked stories – and Ms Watt were ‘lying at the bottom of the sea in Davy Jones’ locker’.
Rebekah replied: ‘Who is Davy Jones?’
Mrs Justice Steyn told her the term ‘just meant the bottom of the sea’.
Mr Sherborne later said four months passed between Ms Watt losing her phone and Coleen’s solicitors being informed.
Rebekah said she did not know why there was a delay.
Mr Sherborne repeatedly claimed that disclosure of evidence linked to Rebekah in the case had been hit by ‘a series of unfortunate events’.
Rebekah told the court some messages were deleted from WhatsApp as she tried to export them.
Mr Sherborne said: ‘You say that as a result of that process, all of the messages on your phone, all the WhatsApp messages on your phone between you and Ms Watt, were deleted, were lost.
‘You know that your expert has described that as somewhat surprising and our expert indicates that someone has manually deleted them from the phone.
‘No-one has said to you that Mrs Rooney’s expert says that there is no possible explanation for how that happened in any other way than someone manually – a human – deleting those messages on the phone?’
Happy couple: Coleen has been married to former football player Wayne Rooney, 36, since 2008
Rebekah repeatedly denied deleting messages.
She later said she ‘can neither confirm nor deny’ what happened, suggesting she may have switched phones during a nine-month period where there were missing messages.
Both women have kept busy this summer, taking several family holidays.
On her Instagram Coleen shared a series of touching photos of the family’s Dubai trip, which included swimming with dolphins and relaxing on the beach.
After returning, the Rooneys posed with Ed Sheeran, as they hung out with the superstar backstage at one of his concerts.
At the end of last month Coleen and Wayne were also spotted taking a stroll along the beach while on holiday in Ibiza.
More recently their eldest son Kai, 12, joined his parents at Wimbledon, with Coleen sharing two photos on her Instagram, including a smiling selfie or herself and Wayne.
Family affair: Coleen is a doting mother to her four children Kai, 12, Klay, nine, Kit, six, and Cass, four
Workwise, Wayne has signed on again as manager of his old MLS club in Washington, DC United.
Coleen described to the court how she was homesick while living in the States when they moved in 2018 and that she would often cry herself to sleep.
This time, it’s expected she will stay at home in Cheshire with their children.
Like Coleen, Rebekah also got away from it all with a family break after the trial.
In June, she posted photos of her holiday abroad on Instagram as she relaxed with husband and children in an idyllic-looking beach setting.
Dubbing her family ‘my island crew’, Rebekah revealed to her followers how she and her kids have been soaking up the sun and enjoying activities such as snorkelling and bike riding.
‘Having the best adventures with my island crew,’ she captioned a photo of herself and one of her daughters.
She also paid tribute to Jamie on Father’s Day, thanking him for ‘everything you do for us’ and describing him as the most ‘incredible daddy’.
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk