Geoffrey Rush sues paper for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ allegation

MELBOURNE: Academy award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush Friday filed defamation proceedings against a News Corp newspaper in Australia over a story claiming he engaged in “inappropriate behaviour” at a Sydney theatre.

The 66-year- old denied any wrongdoing after Sydney’s Daily Telegraph ran a front-page story last month reporting that the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint about him when he was working with them.

The veteran Australian star launched action in the Federal Court against the Murdochowned publication to “redress the slurs, innuendo and hyperbole that they have created around my standing in the entertainment industry and in the greater community”.

“The Daily Telegraph has made false, pejorative and demeaning c la ims , splattering them with unrelenting bombast on its front pages,” Rush told reporters at his lawyer Nicholas Pullen’s office in Melbourne. He said the claims had “created irreparable damage” and was “extremely hurtful” to his family and colleagues in the industry. “The situation is intolerable and I must now seek vindication of my good name through the courts in Australia.” Rush did not take questions from the media. The Telegraph’s editor Chris Dore said in a statement that his newspaper “accurately reported the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint alleging that Mr Geoffrey Rush had engaged in inappropriate behaviour”. “We will defend our position in court.” Pullen said a trial date had yet to be fixed, but that Rush would be making a claim for damages and was keen to have the matter “heard as quickly as possible”. Last week Rush resigned as head of film industry body Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), which he had led for several years. — AFP