Celebrities may no longer have to take what’s being written about them as part of the price of fame after Australian actress Rebel Wilson successfully won her defamation case against Bauer Media who accused her of lying about her real name, age and childhood.
The three-week Victorian Supreme Court trial saw Wilson’s lawyers argue that a series of articles published in 2015 ultimately damaged the then budding starlet’s career by depicting her as a serial liar.
The 37-year-old sued over eight articles, calling them a “malicious, deliberate take-down”, that appeared in Women’s Day, Women’s Weekly, OK Magazine and New Weekly.
She argued the articles were published to directly coincide with the release of her biggest movie role to date and were packaged to sell as many copies as possible.
Wilson told the court they were the reason she was fired from DreamWorks animated feature films Trolls and Kung Fu Panda 3 for being “too divisive” and that she had to beg to work for free, further damaging her career.
“After month after month, that all of a sudden doors that used to be open were shut and I basically had to beg to get back in the door … it became apparent that … (the articles) did a tremendous amount of damage,” she told the jury.
But Bauer Media denied the articles had damaged the actress’s reputation and argued they were based in fact.
However, after two days of deliberations, the all-female six-person jury ruled in Wilson’s favour yesterday after being asked to consider 40 questions and eight potentially defamatory magazine articles.
Outside the court, Wilson looked elated and announced her win via social media.
“I had to stand up to a bully, a huge media organisation, Bauer Media Group, who maliciously took me down in 2015 with a series of grubby and completely false articles,” she told reporters.
“Far too often I feel the tabloid magazines and the journalists who work for them don’t abide by professional ethics. Far too often I feel their conduct can only be described as disgusting and disgraceful.
“I’m glad, very glad, that the jury has agreed with me and by their unanimous overwhelming verdict they have sent a very, very clear message.”
Wilson’s famous friends took to social media to congratulate the star on her win, with Russell Crowe one of the first.
Channel 7’s entertainment reporter Peter Ford said on Sunrise earlier today that he expected similar court cases to be launched by Aussie celebs following Wilson’s win.
“I think a lot of people like Bec and Lleyton, Nicole and Keith, Samantha Armytage and Karl Stefanovic, all of them are going to think, ‘Maybe we don’t have to sit back and take it’,” he said.
Judge John Dixon who presided over the case will assess damages at a later date but News Corp reported that media lawyer Justin Quill told 3AW this morning that Wilson “could get something in the millions of dollars”.
“Defamation in Australia is capped for normal damages at just over $380,000,” Quill said on air.
“But if you can prove that you’ve lost money, lost a contract or a job, then you get the value of that contract or job. In her case, knowing the sort of money she can earn, that could be millions. So you’ve got normal damages and you’ve got special damages and the real question is whether she gets special damages because that’s where the big money is.”