Rebel Wilson wins case against Bauer Media
Jury says magazine empire was "motivated by malice" in a series of articles.
- Published by David Knox
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Rebel Wilson has won her defamation case against Bauer Media.
Wilson took action against the magazine empire citing loss of income after eight articles published in 2015 that gave the impression she was a serial liar who invented “fantastic stories” including falsifying her age.
Jury finds Bauer Media was motivated by malice in publishing the first Women's Weekly article.
— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) June 15, 2017
BREAKING: Rebel Wilson wins epic defamation stoush >> https://t.co/IzvJLBEHh0 pic.twitter.com/ohQWaT1Md0
— Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) June 15, 2017
VICTORY: Verdict now done. Rebel Wilson smashes Bauer Media in epic defamation trial. More @theheraldsun soon. #itsover #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/vSiEAxYTsc
— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) June 15, 2017
Lawyers for Bauer said she had misled journalists and it wasn’t true that her career had slowed down.
But her defence case, including testimonies from family and actors Hugh Sheridan and Kate Jenkinson, said, “Woman’s Day has a readership of 1.5 million. Its potential to do harm is enormous.
“Her claim is not about money. It is about restoring her reputation.”
The case attracted daily media attention, fans and colourful references to Walt Disney, David Letterman, rapping and Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery.
Justice John Dixon said told them to keep one simple question in mind: is the star a serial liar?
In order to win the case, Wilson had to have convinced the jury that the series of articles published by Bauer painter her as a serial liar.
Wilson has 3 upcoming movies Isn’t It Romantic, Nasty Women & Pitch Perfect 3 which were referenced during the case.
Damages will be assessed at a later date.
Bauer Media tight lipped in light of thrashing by Rebel Wilson. pic.twitter.com/yjkXBeRj8z
— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) June 15, 2017
Source: Herald Sun
13 Responses
Good for her. The nonsense that publications concoct has to be called out, and this will be a big step forward.
the editor of Big Girl’s Blouse will now think twice about reporting that Kylie Minogue is pregnant
youtube.com/watch?v=gDlTUYBEJ_s
I ran a BGB clip as last week’s Friday Flashback.
ah i missed that.
Bogan Power!
I assume they will appeal?
They are expected to do so but I’d say everyone would be against them, so it would be an unpopular move. Considering the jury made a unanimous decision on all 40 points raised, they would be struggling to convince anyone otherwise.
Good win! Maybe this form of media will think twice about what they publish……
‘Woman’s Day’ has a readership of 1.5 million? That means 22.5 million people don’t have a bar of it.
Sensible folk.
“Her claim is not about money. It is about restoring her reputation.”
Restoring her reputation or just getting a little limelight before the release of the movies?
That’s unfair. She did lose at least one movie role directly because of these articles. She is also writing movies and wants to produce them. A damaged reputation would have made it much harder to raise funding for projects.
She’s just won her case because of comments like this. Seems like whatever she does, she’s damned.
A little limelight is not going help promote her films when they are more than 6 months away. I haven’t been following closely, but clearly she had a good case with an unanimous verdict. She works in an industry that is built on reputation and public perception. This being some crazy elaborate plan to promote a film seems like a stupid failure of an idea.