Rooney PR said the story of Sun journalists’ gender selection was “crazy”.
The former public relations rep for Coleen Rooney told a journalist from The Sun that a story about her client going to a sex selection clinic in Mexico was “crazy”.
Achel Monk, daughter of Mrs Rooney’s current PR rep Ian Monk, said she used to work for her father’s agency and has worked with Mrs Rooney since around 2005.
Ms Monk, in testimony prepared at the high-profile libel trial at the High Court in London, said she spoke to a showbiz journalist from The Sun named Ellie Henman in August 2019 and was told that a story about Ms. Rooney Run would go to Mexico for gender selection.
Ms Monk said: “My immediate reaction when I heard about the gender selection story was that it didn’t sound true.
“I think I described it to Ellie as ‘crazy.’
“By this point I had worked with Coleen for about 10 years and got to know her well enough to get a feel for what suited Coleen and what didn’t.
“I had heard or read Coleen’s response to countless questions in media interviews about how happy she was that her family was all boys.
“I also knew that Coleen was Catholic, so the gender selection didn’t add up at all.
“I ended the conversation with Ellie by agreeing to get in touch with Coleen to see if she would like to comment on the story.
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Coleen Rooney, watched by Rebekah Vardy, is re-examined by her own lawyer, David Sherborne (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
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“I raised the issue with Coleen on WhatsApp and she replied ‘omg omg omg’.
“I was a little surprised by Coleen’s immediate reaction and I said, ‘Are you right?’
“A few hours later I took a screenshot of an email I received from Ellie related to the gender selection story and sent it to Coleen.
“Coleen then said ‘Hi Rach, that’s me, call me.’
“That was probably an indication that Coleen had just tried to call me from a blocked number.
“I then spoke to Coleen about the history of gender selection, but she was unwilling to comment.
“I recall that Coleen’s response was actually pretty tepid, which again surprised me given how far off the proposed storyline seemed to me.
“Coleen hasn’t referenced her Instagram or anything about a fake or fake story or any plan to get anyone, nor did she mention Rebekah Vardy.
“Coleen and I agreed that I would go back to Ellie and say that I could not reach Coleen and that there was no comment to make.
“I went back to Ellie on the call and let her know there was no comment from Coleen.
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Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen and children (Image: Peter Byrne/File/PA)
“I then spoke to Ellie unofficially and told her that from my own perspective, having known Coleen for so long, I thought there was absolutely no chance there was any truth to this gender selection story.
“I told her I just couldn’t believe it or imagine it to be true.
“I did this more as a warning to Ellie because, while nothing was in the notes, I saw no need for The Sun to tell what, based on what I knew about Coleen, I felt was an inaccurate story.
“Also because Ellie was a trusted and honest contact of mine, I didn’t want her name in what I felt was an inaccurate and ridiculous story.
“However, Ellie responded and told me that The Sun would run the story of the gender selection because ‘they had a screenshot’ that confirmed their source.
“I was absolutely stunned but had nothing more to add and we ended the conversation.”
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/rooney-pr-told-sun-journalist-gender-selection-story-was-bonkers-41654949.html Rooney PR said the story of Sun journalists’ gender selection was “crazy”.