Bauer Media to appeal Rebel Wilson defamation payment
Bauer Media has today announced it will appeal the amount of money it will pay for damages made to Rebel Wilson, following last month’s libel judgement.
It comes almost a month after The Victorian Supreme Court awarded Rebel Wilson more than $4.5m, after she won her landmark defamation case against the publisher.
Wilson took action against Bauer Media – which publishes the Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine amongst other titles – alleging she was defamed in several articles published in 2015.
.@RebelWilson awarded more than $4.5 million in damages in Bauer Media defamation case. #7News pic.twitter.com/GZ38zTNFWZ
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) September 13, 2017
The main article in question was a Woman’s Day story titled ‘Just who is the REAL Rebel?’
Wilson sued Bauer for damages, after the articles alleged she had lied about her age, name and upbringing, which she claimed had significantly damaged her reputation.
Bauer Media’s general counsel Adrian Goss said at the time of the initial judgement: “Bauer Media has a long history of delivering great stories to our readers and we have a reputation for developing some of the best editorial teams in this country.
“It is about continuing to do what we do best and that is delivering great content to more than 85% of Australian women across the country via our iconic portfolio.”
Today he added: “It’s important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry.”
