Rebel Wilson’s Bauer defamation payout slashed from $4.5m to $600,000
Rebel Wilson’s defamation payout from Bauer Media has been cut from $4.5m to $600,000 in court today.
Wilson was originally awarded $4.5m last September, which was the biggest defamation payout in Australian history. The payout was made up of $650,000 in general damages and $3,917,472 in special damages.
The Court of Appeal has reduced the general damages payout to $600,000, and has found the special damages to have been wrongly awarded.
Speaking on behalf of Bauer Media, general counsel, Adrian Goss, said: “It was important for us to revisit the award of damages. The legal process has run its course and Bauer welcomes the court’s decision to set aside the entire award of damages for economic loss.
Goss also referenced the case’s broader implications for the media industry as a whole.
“We will consider the implications of the judgement in relation to the cap on defamation damages, which has broader implications for the media industry. In the lead up to today, major media organisations united in an unprecedented way to support Bauer’s appeal in relation to that issue.”
Wilson launched action against Bauer – which publishes Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine – in May 2016.
Wilson alleged she was defamed in several articles published in 2015, including a Woman’s Day story titled ‘Just who is the REAL Rebel?’
The articles alleged Wilson had lied about her age, her name and her upbringing in Australia, and were featured across Australian magazines, including Bauer’s Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine.
Wilson argued the ‘serial liar’ allegations had ruined her reputation and cost her lucrative movie roles.
Wilson was not in court for the ruling in Melbourne this morning.
Additionally, I’m away on location in Europe filming right now. The Court of Appeal in Australia will be handing down their decision in the morning re my defamation case against @bauermedia . As I’ve said before, I have already WON the case and this is UNCHALLENGED!
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 13, 2018
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That’s a huge difference, though I’m not sure after this big decision, it’ll deter Bauer to focus on quality journalism, rather than creating ‘great content’ for the masses.
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This is excellent news. The original award was far too excessive and would have had a chilling effect on proper journalists (not just trash mag journos). $600,000 and huge legal costs is a pretty hefty kick to make them think twice about running defamatory nonsense.
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I highly doubt that, Zara!!
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To be honest, for a multi-million (possibly billion) dollar company like Bauer? I don’t think this amount will cause them any sort of second thoughts.
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billion hahahaha
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Rebel Wilson has received so much publicity and new film roles from this case. She really should be paying Bauer, not the other way round. Case in point: I didn’t even know who she was before I read about her on Mumbrella.
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Bauer Global would have a billion sitting in one of their spare bank accounts that they would have forgotten about.
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Bauer Media Group
Revenue €2.316 billion (2015)
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Can you prove that?
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It made me chuckle that Wilson’s whole case was predicated on the notion that she lost roles because of these articles alleging that she lied about her age. The fact is that no-one has ever lost a role in Hollywood for lying about their age. I’m quite sure there are plenty of actors who have lost roles for being truthful about their age……
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Highly unlikely Zara
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Poor petal.
She lost roles and couldn’t attend the hearing because she was away filming on location in Europe.
And suffer the poor people who were promised that the $4m was going to be donated to them. It’s probably worth Bauer making a $4m charity donation on her behalf to negate that ‘woe is me’ line as well.
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In a court of law? No. Nor would I particularly care to.
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