Vardy criticises ‘sexism’ in coverage of libel trial
TALKS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH IN FIRST TV INTERVIEW
Vardy says she feels there was “a lot of sexism” involved in the coverage of her Wagatha Christie legal battle against Coleen Rooney.
In her first TV interview since losing the libel case, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie told TalkTV’s Kate McCann about how she thought the case was presented in a “misogynistic way”.
She said she does not think Johnny Depp’s clothes were subjected to the same level of observation during his recent high-profile trial with Amber Heard.
“It just seems like women aren’t allowed to defend themselves. Women aren’t allowed to dress nicely.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of sexism involved in it,” Vardy said.
She also said she believes she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
She was admitted to hospital twice to be treated for mental health issues.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. If that helps then I’ll accept it because I think everyone has to know their strengths and their weaknesses and point when they need to ask for help.”
The dispute began in 2019 when Rooney shared a post saying she had carried out a months-long “sting operation” and accused Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney publicly claimed Vardy’s account was the source behind three stories in The Sun feaREBEKAH turing fake details she had posted on her private Instagram stories.
Vardy denied leaking the stories to the media and sued for libel.
She said she is disappointed with the outcome of the trial, saying: “I didn’t expect it to go that way but I think we had a judge that didn’t understand the case and didn’t look at everything.
“It feels like the judge just read what was written in the media and took on their narrative bias.”
Vardy revealed that at no point did her legal team warn her to not carry on with the case, adding: “Because they know I didn’t do it and that is the exact reason that I carried on for as long as I did and I will say that ’til I’m blue in the face, I did not do it.”
She said she holds “no ill feelings” towards Rooney but feels that if she had witnessed the fellow footballer’s wife receive the torrent of online abuse she had received she would have stepped in.