Earlier this year, Rebel Wilson successfully sued publisher Bauer Media for defamation, claiming that a series of articles that ran in Woman’s Day had damaged her career and reputation.
It was one of two defamation suits involving Wilson, and according to reports in the Daily Telegraph, she has since settled the other, paying out more than $100,000 to an Australian journalist.
In 2016, Rebel believed that a writer named Elizabeth Wilson had been harassing her grandmother, and Tweeted out a photo of a House & Garden editor by that name, calling her “total scum.”
The actress was mistaken, however, as there were two writers called Elizabeth Wilson who had worked at ACP Magazines (now Bauer), and she had identified the wrong one.
When Rebel realised her mistake, she removed the offending Tweet, which had been sent out to 2.5 million followers, and apologised. Nonetheless, the wrongly-accused writer decided to take legal action.
(The other Elizabeth Wilson later admitted that she had in fact spoken with Rebel Wilson’s grandmother Betty for a feature story, but said their conversations had been “pleasant”).
Mediation between the parties failed, and the matter was due to be heard before the NSW Supreme Court on August 14, however, the Daily Telegraph’s sources claim it was settled before that.
Per their reports, Rebel paid out approximately $120,000 to settle with the Ms Wilson, but representatives for the parties involved would not confirm this number.
In June of this year, the actress celebrated her win against Bauer, claiming it as a victory over “tall poppy syndrome” and bullying from the media. She said in a statement:
I was confident from the start. This has definitely been a long and very hard fight. But I felt like I had to take a stand against a bully. Their conduct can only be described as disgraceful. I look forward to rebuilding my career. I am grateful it’s all over. It’s a win for everybody who gets maliciously taken down. You guys have probably heard of tall poppy syndrome. This happened to me. I didn’t deserve it.
