Rebecca Vardy to pay $1.7M in costs after losing court fight

LONDON (AP) — Rebekah Vardy, the wife of English soccer player Jamie Vardy, has to pay about 1.5 million pounds ($1.7 million) in legal costs to fellow soccer spouse Coleen Rooney after losing the high-profile libel lawsuit she brought against Rooney. Vardy lost her libel claim against Rooney in July when a judge ruled that a widely circulated social media post Rooney wrote accusing Vardy of leaking her private information to the tabloid press was “substantially true.” In an order made public on Tuesday, a judge ruled that Vardy should pay 90% of Rooney’s legal costs. The case, which mixed social media, an acrimonious celebrity feud and amateur sleuthing, was a British media sensation.