Rebekah Vardy ordered to pay Coleen Rooney’s legal costs over Wagatha Christie trial – which could reach £1.5m
Rebekah Vardy has been ordered to pay Coleen Rooney’s legal costs following their Wagatha Christie libel trial – and the bill could reach about £1.5m.
In a ruling issued on Tuesday, Judge Justice Steyn said Vardy must pay 90% of Rooney’s costs, and that an £800,000 down payment must be paid by 4pm on 15 November.
In the case dubbed “war of the wags”, Rooney incurred eyewatering costs of more than £2 million. However, £350,000 of those costs had already been racked up ahead of the trial, so were removed to produce a final figure of £1,667,860.
The final costs ruling will be confirmed once Rooney submits her final total costs bill.
Vardy with husband Leicester City striker Jamie
Although the exact figure of Vardy’s own costs is not known, it’s likely to be a similar amount to Rooney’s, stretching into the millions.
Vardy has also been ordered to pay part of the costs of seven journalists who were potential witnesses but did not actually give evidence in the trial. Rooney has also been ordered to pay a portion of their costs.
Vardy lost her libel case against Rooney in July.
The case centred around a social media post published by Rooney on 9 October 2019, in which she accused Vardy of leaking stories about her to the press.
The post – which went viral, receiving over 370,000 engagements on Twitter, including almost 50,000 retweets – led to Rooney being dubbed “Wagatha Christie” on social media, in a nod to the world-famous British crime novelist Agatha Christie.
Vardy, who had denied being responsible for leaking Rooney’s personal information, announced she would be taking Rooney to court in June 2020, with the trial finally reaching the High Court in May this year.
However, the case didn’t go Vardy’s way, with the court finding the essence of Rooney’s social media post was “substantially true” – that’s to say Vardy was responsible for leaking Rooney’s private information to the press.
In her ruling, Judge Steyn described Rooney’s evidence as “honest and reliable”, but labelled Vardy’s evidence “manifestly inconsistent… evasive or implausible”.
Coleen and Wayne Rooney arrive at court
In the order made public on Tuesday, the same judge said Vardy had “deliberately deleted or destroyed evidence”, calling such behaviour “outside the ordinary and reasonable conduct of proceedings”.
For this reason she said costs would be assessed on an indemnity rather than a standard basis – which is the highest basis a court can offer, and more favourable to Rooney in terms of the amount of her legal bill she can recover.
During the week-long trial there was “a series of unfortunate incidents” involving a broken laptop, forgotten passwords and lost data when a mobile phone belonging to Vardy’s agent was dropped overboard and ended up at the bottom of the North Sea.
This led Rooney’s team to accuse Vardy of conducting a “deliberate and calculated” campaign to destroy evidence.
Read more:
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It all started with a social media post back in October 2019 which quickly went viral.
The judge justified her decision to reduce Vardy’s costs bill by 10%, citing Rooney’s “weak” allegation that Vardy was one of the people behind The Sun’s Secret Wag gossip column, and Rooney’s unsuccessful public interest defence.
Rooney had defended the claim on the basis it was true and in the public interest for her to publish it, but was only successful in persuading the court on the first count.
The three fake stories Rooney had accused Vardy of sharing with The Sun newspaper featured her travelling to Mexico for a gender selection procedure, her return to TV, and the basement flooding in her new home.
Despite the ruling against her, Vardy has continued to proclaim her innocence, insisting Judge Steyn “got it wrong”, later claiming she was “let down by the legal system” in a paid-for interview on Talk TV.
The Wagatha Christie case, which was followed around the world due to its salacious detail and the chance to peer into the private lives of warring celebrities, is currently being made into several TV shows, including a Channel 4 drama and ITV documentary.
BBC chair Samir Shah has written a detailed letter to MPs following controversy over the editing of a speech by Donald Trump.
Following a backlash, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness have both stepped down from their roles.
Mr Trump is also understood to have threatened the corporation with legal action over the editing together of two pieces of video from his speech on 6 January 2021 in the BBC’s flagship late-night news programme Panorama.
While the original programme received no complaints, Mr Shah confirmed in his letter that over 500 complaints had been received since a memo from former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, Michael Prescott, was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.
BBC resignations as Trump ‘threatens to sue’ – follow latest
In his memo, Mr Prescott detailed what he called “worrying systemic issues with the BBC’s coverage”, also discussing other coverage, including trans issues, and the war in Gaza.
Mr Prescott specifically mentioned Ms Turness and deputy director of BBC News, Jonathan Munro in his memo, calling them “defensive”.
File pic: AP
An apology – by denial of a cover-up
In his four-page letter of response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah said following “deliberation”, the board “accept that the way Mr Trump’s speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action”, calling it an “error of judgement”.
He also noted that some coverage of the memo leak, implied a list of stories and issues had been “uncovered”, which the BBC had sought to “bury”.
Mr Shah said that interpretation was “simply not true” and urged for a “sense of perspective” to be maintained when considering the “thousands of hours of outstanding journalism” the BBC produces each year.
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‘Trump is undermining the BBC ‘
Changes in leadership
The BBC chair also said the view that the BBC “has done nothing to tackle these problems” is “simply not true”.
Mr Shah admitted there were occasions “when the BBC gets things wrong” or “reporting requires more context or explanation”.
Read more:
Who is Michael Prescott?
Trump reacts to BBC resignations – and doesn’t hold back
Raising the point that the information relied on by Mr Prescott for his memo was the very research commissioned by the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), he said the memo “did not present a full picture of the discussions, decisions and actions that were taken”.
Mr Shah detailed changes in leadership across the BBC Arabic team, as well as changes in World Service and BBC News – all of which he said would help tackle the issues raised.
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BBC boss ‘right to resign’
So what is being done?
At the end of the letter Mr Shah committed to three actions:
• “The board will commit to revisiting each and every item set out in Michael Prescott’s note and take further action where appropriate. We will be transparent about the conclusions we reach, and the actions taken.”
• “Where we have put in measures already, in response to the original EGSC research, we will repeat those internal reviews to check the changes made are making material improvements to the output.”
• “Where we have already accepted that items fall short of our editorial standards, we will ensure that amendments to the relevant online stories are made where this was deemed appropriate.”
Mr Shah concluded by saying the BBC would “champion impartiality”, which he said was “more necessary now than ever before”, calling it the “sacred job of the BBC”.
Entertainment
BBC director general’s resignation ‘regrettable’ but he was ‘right to do so’ – culture committee chair
The resignation of the BBC’s director general was “regrettable” but he was “right to do so”, the chair of parliament’s culture committee has told Sky News.
Dame Caroline Dinenage said she was not expecting the resignations of Tim Davie and the chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness, which they announced on Sunday evening.
She told Mornings with Ridge and Frost: “I think it’s really regrettable that Tim Davie had to step down – huge commitment to the BBC and public service broadcasting.
“But I think he was right to do so. I think restoring trust in the corporation has got to come first.”
BBC latest: Outgoing BBC News boss rejects ‘institutional bias’
Dame Caroline, who will chair a culture, media and sport committee meeting on Tuesday where the issue will be discussed, said the BBC was “very slow to react” to a leaked report by Michael Prescott, an independent adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards board.
The dossier, sent to the BBC board and leaked to The Daily Telegraph, accused a Panorama special on Donald Trump, released a week before the 2024 US election, of being “neither balanced nor impartial – it seemed to be taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance”.
Tim Davie resigned on Sunday evening. Pic: PA
He also said the programme had spliced two clips from separate parts of Mr Trump’s speech to his supporters on 6 January 2021, the day of the Capitol Hill riots, to give the “impression that Trump had incited protesters to storm Capital Hill”.
Mr Prescott also raised bias concerns about the BBC’s coverage of trans issues and the war in Gaza.
Dame Caroline accused the BBC of failing to take his report seriously “until it was too late”.
Ms Turness arrived at the BBC’s central London headquarters on Monday morning, where she admitted “mistakes are made” but said there is “no institutional bias”.
She defended the BBC’s journalists, saying “of course” they are not corrupt and they “strive for impartiality”.
Read more:
The BBC controversies faced by Tim Davie during his time in charge
Politics Hub – latest updates
Outgoing BBC News boss Deborah Turness spoke to media on Monday. Pic: PA
Dame Caroline said the situation “has to influence the BBC charter decisions”.
The BBC’s Royal Charter outlines the corporation’s mission, public purposes and governance, along with specific obligations and how it is funded.
It is up for renewal in 2027, with the government currently carrying out a review to determine the BBC’s future, including its funding model and mission.
Dame Caroline said the last review, 10 years before, put integrity as the BBC’s top missions.
She added: “I think the charter has to look at how the BBC retains its balance and its integrity, how it retains the trust of the British people and the licence fee payer, because, you know, that’s absolutely fundamental for the future of the BBC.
“But actually it reflects upon us as a nation, because the BBC is such a well known and such a well respected brand around the world.”
BBC chair Samir Shah is expected to apologise in a letter to Dame Caroline’s committee later today.
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