GEOFFREY RUSH IS ‘VIRTUALLY HOUSEBOUND’ IN DEFAMATION CASE

Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush “rarely left his home” for three months, after a Sydney newspaper claimed he engaged in inappropriate behaviour at a theatre, his lawyer said Monday during a defamation case against the publication.

The 66-year-old actor is suing Sydney’s Daily Telegraph after a front-page story in November reported that the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint about him when he was working there.

The veteran Australian star has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer Nicholas Pullen said in an affidavit Monday that Rush has “continued to suffer tremendous emotional and social hardship”.

The legal document said he “feels uncomfortable when in public and will rarely attend public events”, “barely eats” and “wakes up every morning with a terrible sense of dread about his future career”.

The affidavit said that as a direct result of the report, which received international coverage, Rush found he was “constantly associated” locally and overseas with the global #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

Rush, in December resigned as head of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, which he had led for several years.

Meanwhile, the paper has said that it had accurately reported the alleged complaint against Rush, and would defend the case in court.