I remember reading the entertainment news back in 2019 when Coleen Rooney first alleged that Rebekah Vardy's account was involved in the leaks of her personal Instagram posts to the Sun. Vardy subsequently sued Rooney for libel, which brings us to the present case. I personally thought Rooney had been quite brilliant in stating in her allegation that it was "Rebekah Vardy's account" rather than "Rebekah Vardy". Unfortunately, Rooney's legal team was not successful in arguing that the general public understood that celebrities shared login details for their social media accounts with their agents as Mr Justice Warby ruled in a preliminary hearing in November 2020 that the legal meaning of the post blaming "Rebekah Vardy's account" was a direct accusation against Vardy herself.
Although the recent two weeks of court hearings brought a lot of drama and entertainment, this case also brings about many interesting legal issues:
(i) The preliminary ruling from Mr Justice Warby meant that Rooney would have to prove that it was Vardy who was personally responsible for the leaks or that the publication of the allegation was in the public interest while Vardy appears to suggest that her agent may have been the person unilaterally responsible for the leaks. However, how would the loss of potential evidence by Vardy and her agent, and the lack of any appearance in court by her agent, be dealt with?
(ii) The case also questions what the standard expected of individuals is when they post on social media as Vardy's lawyers have argued that Rooney did not follow standard journalistic practice in failing to give advance warning to the subject of her story.
(iii) In the event of Vardy wins, what damages will she be awarded (the upper limit of damages in libel actions is £300,000 and any award would depend on factors such as the level of harm caused to a person's reputation and how many people read the published libel)?
(iv) What orders would the judge make as to costs (given that Rooney has said she previously made efforts to resolve the case without the need for a trial)?
These are interesting issues and I look forward to the release of the judgment by Mrs Justice Steyn in due course, as well as the outcome of a similar defamation trial in the US between former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
But the legal system should consider whether this is realistic for most members of the public, what individuals are expecting when they post material on social media, and whether they should be held to the same standard as major news publishers. Because as things stand, it might not be very long before we get another “Wagatha Christie” case.