Court hears details of Rush allegation
SYDNEY, Australia — A lawyer accused Oscar-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush in court Monday of touching an actress inappropriately on a Sydney stage three years ago while he was starring in a production of King Lear.
Rush is suing Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper in Federal Court for defamation over articles last year which alleged inappropriate behaviour and touching during the Sydney Theatre Company production in 2015.
The newspaper’s lawyer, Tom Blackburn, told the court on Monday that Rush, now 66, touched an actress who has not been identified on five consecutive nights in the last week of the production in a way that he had not done before and that made her uncomfortable.
“She said stop — he didn’t. He went on doing it. Our case is that that in itself is inappropriate,” Blackburn told the court.
But Rush’s lawyer, Richard McHugh, told the court the accusations were vague.
Blackburn is fighting Rush’s request to have the newspaper’s truth defence struck out.
Justice Michael Wigney delayed his decision on that request to a later date.
The inappropriate behaviour is alleged to have occurred when Rush and the actress were required to touch on stage, McHugh said.
The newspaper’s lawyers have previously told the court that the articles did not allege Rush engaged in inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature.
Blackburn said for the purposes of the defence it wasn’t important where Rush touched the actress, but the fact she allegedly asked him to stop — and he didn’t stop — made it inappropriate.
Rush has denied behaving inappropriately.