Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Live
REBEL WILSON TO GET $1.1M IN LEGAL COSTS
Actor Rebel Wilson will be reimbursed $1.1 million as legal costs by Bauer Media, which was found to have defamed her. While the actor had applied for payout of $1.3 million, out of her $1.4 million legal costs, it has been refused by an Australian court.
In September, Wilson was awarded the highest defamation payout in Australian history — $4.5 million (approximately
₹22 crore), including $6,50,000 in general and aggravated damages —but the matter of costs remained in dispute. It is expected that the actor, known for the Picth Perfect movies, will be repaid at least 80% of those costs – around $1.123 million.
Her lawyers argued she should get at least $1.3 million back, asking the Victorian supreme court Justice John Dixon to assess and award a “gross sum costs order”.
On Thursday, the court ruled that Bauer would have to pay most of the actor’s legal costs but not as a gross sum. The judgment means the actor may have to wait until the end of the year to be reimbursed while the costs are settled in the usual manner. But Dixon did certify the cost of her counsel at the rate of $9,000 a day, and approved the cost of a security guard, which he said was “reasonable”.
“There was an unusually large public interest in the proceeding,” Dixon said.
“It came to my attention during the course of the trial that the plaintiff had been approached in an inappropriate fashion by a member of the public. That person’s attendance within the court precinct was monitored by court security personnel and I was satisfied that the plaintiff was upset and detrimentally affected by the contact,” he added.
During a four-week trial last year, Wilson’s lawyers successfully proved to a jury that Bauer had branded the actor as a “serial liar” who fabricated untruths about her age, real name, and childhood to make it in Hollywood.
Bauer Media plans to appeal against the $4.5 million payout, with the matter listed for mid-April.