Rebel Wilson back in Australian courts in defamation appeal

MELBOURNE, Australia Rebel Wilson has applied to Australia’s highest court to increase the comic actress’s payout from a defamation case against a magazine publisher.

The 38-year-old, best known for parts in the “Pitch Perfect” and “Bridesmaids” movies, was awarded in September an Australian record 4.6 million Australian dollars ($3.5 million) in damages.

A Victoria state Supreme Court jury found that that German publisher Bauer Media defamed her in a series of articles in 2015 claiming she lied about her age, the origin of her first name and her upbringing in Sydney. But three judges on the Court of Appeal last month upheld an appeal by Bauer and slashed Wilson’s payout to AU$600,000 ($454,000). The appeal court ruled that the trial Judge John Dixon should not have compensated Wilson for film roles, including “Trolls” and “Kung Fu Panda 3,” which she testified she had lost due to the damage the articles had done to her reputation.