CELEBRITY
WAGS AT WAR: JUDGE BACKS VARDY’S WIFE IN LIBEL SUIT AGAINST ROONEY’S WIFE
A London judge on Friday (Nov 20) gave initial backing to Rebekah Vardy in her libel case against Coleen Rooney, in a legal battle over an Instagram post by the two footballers’ wives.
The women, both prominent “wives and girlfriends (WAGs)” of the England team, have locked horns over accusations about the leaking of private details to The Sun newspaper.
In a ruling, High Court judge Mark Warby ruled that Rooney had clearly accused Vardy of leaking private Instagram posts to the tabloid.
Rooney is the wife of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, while Vardy’s husband Jamie plays for Leicester City. Vardy has also appeared on several reality shows.
Both women belong to a glamorous group of footballers’ wives and girlfriends, known in Britain as the WAGs, who have become celebrities in their own right, their lives regularly dissected by the tabloid press.
Their feud exploded into public view in October last year, when Rooney, whose husband is Manchester United’s all-time leading scorer, posted a message explaining that she had become suspicious of one of her friends and had carefully planned and executed a sting operation.
She said she had blocked all her friends from viewing her private Instagram account except for the one she suspected, and had then posted fake stories over five months, which had found their way into The Sun. The end of the message said: “I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s…Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
But Vardy denied the accusation.
“I don’t need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you?” the 38-year-old model replied.
But her denial did not stop a wave of social media abuse and ridicule that her lawyers say is continuing. Her husband Jamie was on several occasions mocked while playing for Leicester City, by opposition fans chanting “your wife is a grass” – British slang for an informer.
Vardy says third parties had access to her Instagram account, which has around 400,000 followers.
On Thursday, lawyer Hugh Tomlinson, acting for Vardy, said his client was depicted as a “villain” in an “untrue and unjustified defamatory attack… published and republished to millions of people”.
Coleen Rooney has 1.2 million followers on Twitter and 885,000 on Instagram. The story was widely covered by Britain’s national print and broadcast media. It has been dubbed the “WAGatha Christie” case, in reference to the renowned author of detective novels, following Rooney’s sleuthing.
Vardy said she received “very high levels of public and abuse after ridicule” after the post appeared and feared she would have a miscarriage with the stress. She was then about seven months pregnant.
Thursday’s hearing was to determine a preliminary issue: The meaning of Rooney’s post in the eyes of a reasonable reader.
Rooney’s lawyer argued that her viral post had blamed Vardy’s account for the leaks, rather than her personally. But Justice Warby ruled that an ordinary reader would understand Rooney’s conclusion – “It’s …….. Rebekah Vardy’s account” – as identifying Vardy as the “wrongdoer”.
Rooney’s post did not suggest anyone except Vardy could have been involved, he added.
He said he “substantially” agreed with Vardy that the post implied she had “consistently and repeatedly betrayed” Rooney’s trust.
Warby ordered Rooney to pay almost £23,000 (S$41,000) in initial costs.
Rooney’s spokesman said after the ruling that her position had not changed and insisted Vardy had a “relationship” with The Sun and its “Secret Wag” column.
The court heard that both parties had agreed to a delay until February so they could make a final attempt at resolving their differences without going to a full trial.
-Reuters/AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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