September 2017 to October 2019 – The Sun publishes a number of articles about Coleen, including that she traveled to Mexico to learn about the treatment of ‘gender selection’ in babies, her plan to revive her TV career and the flooding of her basement.
October 9, 2019 – Coleen uses social media to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her private Instagram account to the tabloids.
Coleen says she spent five months trying to find out who shared information about her and her family based on posts she posted on her personal social media page.
After sharing a series of “false” stories and using an elimination process, Coleen claims they were viewed by one Instagram account, which belonged to Rebekah.
Rebekah, then pregnant with her fifth child, denies the allegations and says several people have had access to her Instagram over the years.
She claims to be “so upset” by Coleen’s accusation, later adding, “I thought she was my girlfriend, but she completely destroyed me.”
The public dispute is making headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending.
How it all started: On Oct. 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy, 40, of leaking “false stories” about her to the press in an Instagram post (above)
February 13, 2020 – In a tearful appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Rebekah says the stress of the dispute left her with severe anxiety attacks and she ‘ended up in hospital three times’. Coleen says in a statement that she does not want to participate in “further public discussion”.
Shortly after Coleen’s public accusation, Rebekah – who was pregnant at the time and on holiday in Dubai – denied any involvement (above)
June 23, 2020 – It turns out that Rebekah has started libel proceedings against Coleen.
Rebekah’s lawyers claim she “experienced extreme distress, pain, anguish and shame as a result of the publication of the message and the events that followed.”
November 19-20, 2020 – The libel battle has its first hearing in the High Court in London. A judge rules that Coleen’s October 2019 post “clearly identified” that Rebekah was “guilty of the grave and consistent breach of trust.”
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the “natural and ordinary” meaning of the messages was that Rebekah had “regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Coleen’s private messages and -stories’.
February 8-9, 2022 – A series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt – which Coleen’s lawyers claim were about her – are revealed at a preliminary hearing.
The court is told that Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a “nasty bitch” in a conversation with Mrs. Watt.
Coleen’s lawyers seek more information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before any further information could be gleaned from it.
February 14th – Coleen will not be allowed to file a Supreme Court action against Ms Watt for misusing private information to be heard in addition to the libel battle. A Supreme Court judge, Ms Justice Steyn, says the offer was made too late and previous opportunities to make the claim were not used.
13th of April – Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial, the Supreme Court is told as the case returns for another hearing.
The agent withdraws permission to use her testimony and retracts her waiver that would have allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
April 29 – Rebekah “appears to accept” that her agent was the source of alleged leaked stories, Coleen’s attorney David Sherborne tells the Supreme Court. He claims new testimony from Rebekah suggests Ms. Watt was the source, but Rebekah claims she “did not authorize or endorse her.”
Rebekah’s attorney, Hugh Tomlinson, says the affidavit contained “no changes whatsoever to the case being argued,” and that her legal team had no communication with Ms. Watt.
From May 10 – The process takes seven days