Pitch Perfect victory
AFTER waiting two days for the jury’s verdict in her defamation case against magazine publisher Bauer Media, Rebel Wilson almost missed it.
She’d been “stress eating” chicken, chips and chocolate after playing tennis with Todd Woodbridge when she heard a decision had been reached.
She got stuck in traffic and turned up late, bursting into the courtroom in a dramatic end to the most bizarre of trials in Victoria in years.
The jury found that, not only had Wilson been defamed by eight individual articles published in May 2015, but Bauer had acted maliciously.
The articles appeared in Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine.
Emerging from the Supreme Court yesterday the Hollywood actor, star of Pitch Perfect amd Bridesmaids, said she hoped it would end a toxic culture of magazine journalism that routinely made up stories about celebrities.
“I had to take a stand,” she said. “I had to stand up to a bully, a huge media organisation, Bauer Media Group, who maliciously took me down … with a series of grubby articles.
“Far too often I feel their conduct can only be described as disgusting.”
The all female six-member jury that sat through every minute of the three-week trial emphatically agreed.
“It’s really good the record’s set straight and that stain is cleared,” Wilson said. “It really felt like it was the right thing to do to take this company on and to prove publicly how disgusting and disgraceful their chequebook journalism practices really are.”
Wilson beamed as the jury answered each question in her favour and leapt to her feet and hugged her legal team when court adjourned.
While a compensation payout is yet to be determined, the actress could potentially make millions from the case by claiming for loss of earnings.
But Wilson said the lawsuit was never about money. “The reason I’m here is not for damages, it’s to clear my name,” she said. “Now I look forward to rebuilding my career.”
Bauer Media said last night it was considering its options following the verdict, and had no further comment.