Rebekah Vardy Sues Coleen Rooney for Libel After Wild Instagram Feud

The feud between English soccer wives Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney is heading to the courts. 

In October, Rooney, who is married to former England national team star Wayne Rooney, revealed that she had been conducting a sting operation on her Instagram account to suss out the identity of the person who had been leaking private family information from her Instagram stories to British tabloid The Sun for years. She had her suspicions that Vardy, the wife of England striker Jamie Vardy was the culprit, so she blocked every follower except for Vardy from viewing her stories and started posting blatantly false information. Sure enough, those stories ended up in The Sun. 

Rooney publicized the results of her investigation with a statement on Twitter that ended with the instantly iconic line, “It’s .........Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

Vardy denied the allegations from the start, saying “various people have had access to my insta.” She also threatened legal action. 

And now Vardy is following through on that threat. 

On June 12, Vardy filed a libel suit against Rooney in the U.K’s High Court of Justice, according to The Independent. 

“It is disappointing that Mrs. Vardy has chosen to issue court proceedings,” Paul Lunt, part of Rooney’s legal team, told The Independent. “Coleen feels that the time and money involved could be put to better use; her offer to meet face to face still stands. Mrs. Vardy’s decision to issue court proceedings does at least mean that Coleen’s evidence can be made public when the time is right.”

In May, Vardy demanded a public apology from Rooney as the two sides met for mediation in an effort to avoid a court case.

According to The Sun, legal fees could cost up to $500,000 for each party.