Rebel Wilson awarded $4.5m in damages following defamation win against Bauer
The Victorian Supreme Court has awarded Rebel Wilson $4.5m in damages this morning.
Wilson launched action against the publisher of Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine in May 2016, alleging 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 sued Bauer for damages, arguing the ‘serial liar’ allegations had ruined her reputation and cost her lucrative movie roles.
Today, the court has ruled Wilson will receive $4.5m in damages.
.@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
Huge win for rebel. Her lawyers telling the court she would've accepted 200k. pic.twitter.com/ObOUVq8es9
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) September 13, 2017
Following her landmark win in June, Wilson said any proceedings from her defamation case would be used for good causes.
https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/877590725029904384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmumbrella.com.au%2Frebel-wilson-promises-donate-bauer-defamation-payout-453261
It has been reported the Los Angeles based actress was seeking up to $7m in damages from the troubled media company which recently replaced its Australian CEO. Wilson claims the articles may have cost her up to $18m in lost earnings.
Responding to today’s judgement on behalf of Bauer Media, Adrian Goss, General Counsel, said the company would remain focused on delivering “great stories”.
“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,” Goss said.
topics
Australian Women's Weekly
Bauer Media
defamation
media law
New Weekly
OK Magazine
Rebel Wilson
Woman's Day
Might be just enough to make someone learn something
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“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,” Goss said.
My God….
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Bauer might want to focus on creating better content, rather than just more of it. The [edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] they peddle weekly is dated, unwanted and embarrassing.
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Serious question re: “The articles alleged Wilson had lied about her age, her name and her upbringing in Australia”, can someone please tell me…….
A) Was this court case started because she HADN’T lied about her age, her name and her upbringing in Australia (and Bauer made the whole story up)?
or
B) it was true that she HAD lied about her age, her name and her upbringing in Australia (but she took Bauer to caught because they told everyone that she had lied and that had besmirched her name / cost her movie roles etc?
None of the articles written about this court case ever say which one it was/is
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You live by the sword. You die by the sword. I’d imagine there will be a few editors at Bauer worried about whether they have a job by the end of the week. It’s breathtaking they get away with printing such garbage. It’s about time someone stepped in and started cleaning up the shop.
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Hi Danny,
The jury in this matter back in June had to consider around 40 questions about eight allegedly defamatory articles from Bauer publications. The jury found the main article (which has received the most attention) – Just Who Is The REAL Rebel? – was likely to cause Wilson damage and was motivated by malice.
A lot of the discussion became about whether the articles were concocted to deliberately bring down Wilson, whether the sources had an axe to grind, and the damage this did to her career and earnings potential – rather than just who lied and when.
We didn’t have a journalist in court today, so I’m hesitant to quote Justice Dixon at this stage, but you can read more of the court’s comments here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201.....es/8936850
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
What about Mamamia? They ran the story first. Did they get sued as well?
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Interesting way to apologise.
Using the opportunity to spruik your metrics and not show some kind of remorse…
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Hopefully it may force trash print media and the multiple insignificant celebrity blog hacks (particularly manamia) to think twice or actually write factually rather that fluff.
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Excellent win not just for Rebel Wilson, but for truth in ‘journalism’ – we all hope.
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I’d like to pick up on two things Mr Goss said…
First is that ‘great stories’ are often fictional – and, as Ms Wilson’s win and numerous mentions on Media Watch attest – at least some of the stories in Bauer publications fall into this category.
One would prefer to hear Mr Goss and Bauer promising ‘great journalism’ instead.
Second point is Mr Goss claiming a ‘long history’ in Australian editorial teams and content delivery to Australian women. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Bauer Media only bought into the Australian market in 2012. Women’s Day, for example, was launched in 1953 – a full 55 years before Bauer took over just 5 years ago. So, while Women’s Day has a long (checkered or otherwise) history, it’s a bit rich to claim it as Bauer’s own history, just because they happen to own it (currently).
Which brings me back to my first point – maybe if they actually did really concentrate on ‘great journalism’ instead of ‘great stories’, they could write themselves a new and more praise-worthy chapter in that history.
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This is a Huge win of Rebel. i am Very Happy.
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We can only hope
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Thanks Vivienne. Maybe I’m a dullard but I’m still a bit in the dark as your second paragraph still doesn’t say whether or not she lied about her age etc.
The first part — “A lot of the discussion became about whether the articles were concocted to deliberately bring down Wilson” — gives the impression that the whole story published was completely made up but the last part — “rather than just who lied and when” again makes me question if one of the “who” that lied was Rebel or whether you are the “who” are the people that concocted the stories.
I guess, if you could just give me a “yes” or “no” answer to the following question, that would give me the answer I’m trying to find out….
Did / Has Rebel Wilson lied about her age, name and upbringing?
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This is ridiculous , only a celebrity would receive this sum of money for being spoken of badly.
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