Court awards Rebel Wilson record £2.7m in libel case
AUSTRALIAN comedian Rebel Wilson has been awarded A$4.6 million (£2.7million) in damages after a global magazine publisher was found to have defamed her in a string of articles which led to her missing out on Holly- wood movie roles.
The Supreme Court of Victoria ordered Bauer Media to pay Sydney-born Wilson, star of the Pitch Perfect films, A$650,000 in general damages, including aggravated damages, plus A$3,917,472 in special damages, the highest ever for a libel case in Australia.
Justice John Dixon said aggravated damages were justified due to Bauer Media’s “unprecedented” global reach and its decision to run a series of articles which claimed Wilson had lied about her age, real name and some childhood events, even after it knew the allegations were false.
He said Bauer Media had “kept the story alive for days” for its own profit, knowing the allegations in its Woman’s Day magazine would be picked up by other entertainment media worldwide.
Wilson said: “Today was the end of a long and hard court battle against Bauer Media, who viciously tried to take me down with a series of false articles.”