Bangkok Post

Rush wins ‘largest ever’ libel payout

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SYDNEY: Hollywood star Geoffrey Rush won a record multimilli­on-dollar payout yesterday after an appeal by a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper against a defamation ruling was thrown out by an Australian court.

The Oscar-winner will receive US$2 million (62 million baht) for lost earnings and compensati­on after a court rejected an appeal seeking reduced costs and a retrial of the case.

The decision — against News Corp’s Australian subsidiary Nationwide News — is the latest twist in the ongoing legal battle between Rush and the Daily Telegraph, which accused him of inappropri­ate sexual behaviour toward female cast members.

In a front-page article published in 2017, the Daily Telegraph wrote that the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint that Rush had inappropri­ately touched a female co-star during a staging of King Lear.

A Sydney judge had described the content as a “recklessly irresponsi­ble piece of sensationa­list journalism”.

Local media said the sum awarded to Rush was the largest ever paid to an individual in Australia, which has notoriousl­y strict defamation laws.

Rush won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1997 for his role in Shine and is one of the few stars to have also won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Tony Award.

 ??  ?? Australian actor Geoffrey Rush pictured in Los Angeles.
Australian actor Geoffrey Rush pictured in Los Angeles.

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