Brits live for two things: football (soccer, stateside) and tea — and there’s plenty of hot tea being spilled in the $3.7-million “Wagatha Christie” trial that kicked off Wednesday across the pond.
The sensational case, of which every tasty morsel has been obsessed over in the UK, centers around two of the world’s most famous “WAG’s” — meaning the glamorous wives and girlfriends of superstar athletes — Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy. The sexy soccer spouses are embroiled in a vicious libel suit.
Here’s who’s facing off: Rooney, 36, who is married to Wayne Rooney, former Manchester United forward turned Derby Football Club manager; and Vardy, 40, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy. They’re extremely rich and incredibly dramatic.
Raging Rooney has accused Vardy, in the most public of ways, of leaking secrets about her to The Sun newspaper, and vengeful Vardy is suing Rooney for libel in response.
The salivating British press has dubbed their catfight “Wagatha Christie” because, in true Miss Marple fashion, Rooney dramatically “solved” her own mystery and announced the shocking discovery in a parlor-scene-like Twitter post.
Since then, it’s been knives out between the women.
Rebekah Vardy is suing former friend Coleen Rooney for libel. Getty Images
This trial has everything: gossip about a D-list celebrity’s manhood, tears in open court, shoulder pads, looks by Chanel and Prada — and a whole heap of bronzer and diamonds bigger than your knuckles. These two make Krystal and Alexis’ “Dynasty” swimming pool brawls look like a relaxing bubble bath.
The women’s battle began with an alleged months-long betrayal — on Instagram.
In 2017, private stories about Rooney’s life started being published by The Sun — scoops that only her close friends online would know about.
Fed up, in 2019 the rich soccer wife began what she called a “sting operation.”
Over five months, Rooney blocked all her followers on Instagram from viewing her stories, except for one account — Vardy’s.
Coleen Rooney began a “sting operation” to uncover who was leaking stories about her and her family to the British press.WireImage
Crafty Rooney said that she then posted “a series of false stories to see if they made their way into the newspaper.” And, lo and behold, they did. Headlines emerged about a rumored appearance on “Strictly Come Dancing” (the British version of “Dancing with The Stars”) and her flooded mansion.
In August 2019, another Sun article said she had flown to Mexico for gender selection treatment to make sure her fifth child was a girl.
It was all bunk, planted by the WAG.
And she wasn’t done yet.
Speaking from the witness stand this week, Rooney said: “It could have only come from my private Instagram account. The fact The Sun reported all this stuff that had happened and was untrue gave me the anger to put it out to the public that someone was giving out my private information. I was angry. I was fuming.”
Rebekah Vardy, seen in a sketch, says many people have had access to her Instagram account over the years.AP
Believing she caught the culprit, Rooney took to Twitter in October 2019 and, like a mustachioed Hercule Poirot, dramatically revealed her findings.
“This has been a burden in my life for a few years now and finally I have got to the bottom of it,” she wrote.
“It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain which account / individual it’s come from.
“I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
“It’s……..Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Coleen Rooney is married to Wayne Rooney, the former forward for Manchester United.TheImageDirect.com
The internet exploded at the claim, and “Wagatha Christie” was born.
Their feud spilled over into the legal system in July 2020, when Vardy, a mother of five, filed a libel claim against Rooney, alleging that the accusation had caused “extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment.” Vardy denies all wrongdoing.
In a preliminary hearing in November 2020, the judge concluded that Rooney’s Twitter statement blaming “Rebekah Vardy’s account” constituted a direct accusation against Vardy.
In an attempt to end the drama, Rooney said that she tried three times to settle the case to prevent an ongoing spectacle. Vardy didn’t bite.
She said she feels “bullied and manipulated,” and pressed on with the libel action “to clear my name, and not just for me, for my family and my children.”
Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy were friends and watched their husbands play soccer in England before Coleen accused Rebekah of leaking stories to the press.Getty Images
English libel law requires Rooney to prove that it was specifically Vardy who leaked the stories or to convince the judge, Justice Karen Steyn, that her revelation was in the public interest. That could be complicated, because Vardy insists other people have had access to her Instagram account over the years. One of those yet unnamed individuals could have been Deepthroat.
This week, however, we’ve learned that Vardy happens to have a history of blabbing to the press, and Rooney’s lawyers have tried to portray her as a “serial leaker.”
The loose-lipped WAG admitted that she attempted to make public a story about her husband’s then Leicester teammate Danny Drinkwater being arrested for drunk driving in 2019, but she insisted it was a one-off.
The court heard that Vardy told her manager to use her personal Instagram account to “monitor” Rooney’s account. She denies that allegation.
Vardy was also quizzed about a 2004 interview she had given to the now defunct News of the World newspaper in which she called Australian ’90s pop star Peter Andre’s penis a “chipolata” (a tiny sausage) after the pair had a night of passion in 2001.
Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney have been teammates in the past. The FA via Getty Images
It has been claimed that Vardy would feed the stories to her agent Caroline Watt, who would then allegedly sell them on to The Sun. But water was thrown on that accusation in court. Watt’s cell phone — believed to contain damning evidence and messages — reportedly fell into the North Sea.
A lawyer for Rooney said that Watt had been “filming the coastline” while on a boat trip in Scotland and dropped her phone, leaving her “unable to retrieve it.”
He added that 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.”
Vardy, not the sharpest coral on the reef, made the courtroom howl with her response: “Who is Davy Jones?”
Jamie Vardy looks on with Wayne Rooney during the England training session in 2015.Getty Images
The patient judge explained that the reference was a figure of speech which “just means the bottom of the sea.”
Rooney’s team isn’t buying the oceanic plunge line. Her lawyer alleged in written submissions that Vardy and her defense had engaged in a “deliberate and calculated” effort to dispose of evidence. Vardy’s lawyers, however, said that’s “completely baseless… there is no such campaign of deletion… the reason there is no direct evidence against Mrs Vardy is because she didn’t do it.”
Watt, the agent, has been deemed not healthy enough to give evidence.
Meanwhile, Vardy has broken down in tears four times on the stand. She began sobbing when asked about her state of mind when she had her fourth baby, barely two months after Rooney’s “Wagatha” post — and said she feared she would lose the child. The verdict will come shortly.
Dave Chappelle’s attacker, Isaiah Lee, has revealed he felt Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock was commendable. Speaking with the New York Post, the attacker stated the Oscars slap inspired him to take the stage.
“That’s not right what [Chris Rock] said about his wife, calling her GI Jane,” Lee said. After stating the move inspired his actions, Lee added that Smith was right in “standing up for his wife.”
In a different conversation with the Post, Lee said as a member of the LGBTQ community, he wanted Chappelle to know that he should consider all audiences.
“I identify as bisexual… and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” he said to the Post. “I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
Lee has entered a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor charges levied against him after the attack. He was charged with misdemeanor battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorized access to the stage area during a performance, and commission of an act that delays the event or interferes with the performer.
Lee also told the post that he is a single father of a five-year-old. Lee not only took issue with the jokes at the gay community but also stated Chappelle’s jokes toward the homeless were offensive. “It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know it’s not a joke.”
Lee also stated Chappelle met with him later about the attack to which he told the comedian about his family history. “I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said,” Lee said. Lee said Chappelle’s response was sharp, “Now your story will die with you, son.”
In addition to his Chappelle attack, Complex reports L.A.’s District Attorney’s Office announced Lee was charged with attempted murder. The new charge is in connection with an incident from 2021.
According to authorities, Lee is accused of stabbing a roomate during an altercation at a housing apartment on Dec. 2. Lee pleaded not guilty.
“The publicity generated by the attack on Mr. Chappelle helped police solve this crime,” said LA County District Attorney George Gascón. “The incident that occurred at the Hollywood Bowl was misdemeanor conduct and rightfully referred to the City Attorney’s Office. Based on the nature and severity of the December attack, Mr. Lee is now facing felony charges which my office will prosecute.”
In a random act of legislation, Kremlin, the complex in the center of Moscow that heads the Russian government, has released a list of 900-plus names that are no longer allowed in the country. Among the names are American government leaders like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton. The surprise name that was included was Morgan Freeman.
Freeman, one of the greatest actors of all time, is believed to be banned as he directed and narrated a 2017 video about Kremlin’s involvement in the U.S. 2016 presidential election. Freeman was joined by Rob Reiner in the creation of the video. Reiner was also banned.
In addition to the aforementioned names, Mark Zuckerberg is also banned, according to Deadline. Russia also permanently banned John McCain, one of three dead senators to make the list.
You can see the video created by Freeman here and see the full release that accompanied the names below.
In the context of responding to the constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and in connection with incoming requests about the personal composition of our national “stop list”, the Russian Foreign Ministry publishes a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation.
We emphasize that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff. Russian counter-sanctions are forced and aimed at forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial “rules-based world order” on the rest of the world, to change its behavior, recognizing new geopolitical realities.
Russia does not seek confrontation and is open to honest, mutually respectful dialogue, separating the American people, who are always respected by us, from the US authorities, who incite Russophobia, and those who serve them. It is these people who are included in the Russian “black list.”
An attempt to get Gunna from jail was denied. According to Billboard, Georgia Judge Ural Glanville denied bond to Gunna at the Fulton County Superior Court on Monday. Gunna is set to remain behind bars until his trial begins in January 2023.
During the court session, Judge Glanville listened to prosecutors who expressed concern about witness intimidation if Gunna was released on bond. Prosecutors suggested Gunna and Young Thug were the leaders of their organization and orchestrated the violence.
“They are the ones directing the violence,” a prosecutor said. “They directed their troops.”
“The court was obviously concerned about threats and intimidation of witnesses,” said Gunna’s attorney Steven Sadow. “We believe when the court hears evidence, not just the words of the prosecutor, it will find that Sergio’s release on bond will not, directly or indirectly, pose a significant risk to witnesses. We look forward to having an evidentiary hearing on this as soon as the court permits.”
Before turning himself in to law enforcement due to the RICO indictment of YSL Records, Gunna reportedly made sure to take care of his family and business. TMZ reports Gunna went and saw his relatives, specifically his mother, before turning himself in.
Gunna reportedly made sure that the continued releases associated with his DS4ever album continued on the business end. The next release is believed to be a video for the single “Banking On Me.”
Gunna was indicted last Wednesday. Following the indictment, his lawyers have claimed his innocence and pointed out how police are using his lyrics against him.
Early Wednesday morning (May 11), Gunna surrendered to Fulton County officials. Gunna is accused of plotting to break the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The “Pushin P” rapper was among at least 28 individuals, including Young Thug, charged with RICO this week by the Fulton County District Attorney.
Gunna, real name Sergio Kitchens, is accused of being a member of the Young Slime Life gang, which the D.A. claims are responsible for 80% of the city’s violent crime.
