Rebel Wilson has been awarded more than $4.5 million in damages after winning her court case against Bauer Media.
A jury found earlier this year that a series of eight articles featured in Woman’s Day, Woman’s Weekly, OK Magazine and New Weekly that painted Wilson a serial liar were defamatory.
She was seeking $7 million in special and general damages after claiming the articles lost her movie roles because she was “too divisive.”
Supreme Court Justice John Dixon today described the extent of the defamation as “unprecedented in this country.”
“At trial and in the full media glare, Bauer Media tried to characterise its article as true, or as trivial, or as not likely to be taken seriously.
“Substantial vindication can only be achieved by an award of damages that underscores that Ms Wilson’s reputation as an actress of integrity was wrongly damaged in a manner that affected her marketability in a huge worldwide marketplace.”
Wilson pledged earlier this year to donate her entire defamation winnings to be split between charities, scholarships and the Australian film industry.
And re my defamation case win, any $’s I receive will go to charity, scholarships or invested into the Aussie film industry to provide jobs
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 21, 2017
I take being a role model very seriously x 🇦🇺
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 21, 2017
Onya mate.
