Rebel Wilson Wins Huge Payout Against Tabloid

Lilian Min
Updated
Photo credit: Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic
Photo credit: Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic

From Cosmopolitan

What can celebrities do when tabloids print blatantly false information about them? Australian actress Rebel Wilson took to the country's courts to find out, and in a record-breaking settlement, she's being awarded $3.66 million ($4.5 Australian dollars) for her case.

In May 2015, Aussie tabloid Women's Day claimed that Rebel was a "serial liar" who had "fabricated almost every aspect of her life," from her age to her name to the broad strokes of her childhood. They claimed the information came from an anonymous source, who happened to demand money for said info. The actress sued Women's Day publisher Bauer Media for defamation, claiming that the publication's claims - which were picked up across the internet - hurt her reputation and lost her work.

Because of her incredibly public-facing job, Judge John Dixon of the Australian Supreme Court in the state of Victoria awarded her a settlement that was four times higher than any previous settlement. According to her lawyers, she's also trying to get Bauer Media to pay her legal fees. But based on her Twitter, Rebel's mostly glad this whole saga is over:

"Today was the end of a long and hard court battle against Bauer Media who viciously tried to take me down with a series of false articles. When the jury delivered its verdict they answered every single point in my favour. Today Justice Dixon accepted that Bauer Media subjected me to a sustained and malicious attack timed to coincide with the launch of Pitch [Perfect] 2.

The judge accepted without qualification that I had an extremely high reputation and that the damage inflicted on me was substantial. He said the nature of the aggravated defamation and the unprecedented extent of dissemination makes vindication of particular importance. The judge said he knew that the info from anonymous paid source was false. And that Bauer Media traded recklessly on my reputation in order to boost its own profits. Justice Dixon has awarded me a record sum and I’m extremely grateful for that. It is 4 times the Australian record."

As for what Rebel's going to do with that money? She's going the Taylor Swift route; "To me though, this case wasn’t about the money. I’m looking forward to helping out some great Australian charities and supporting the Oz film industry with the damages I’ve received."