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Bauer Media Media

Bauer Media contests £2.7m Rebel Wilson defamation payout

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By John Glenday, Reporter

October 9, 2017 | 2 min read

Bauer Media is to contest a £2.7m defamation payout awarded to Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson by an Australian court last month, after successfully arguing that she had been inaccurately portrayed as a liar in several magazine articles.

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Bauer Media contests £2.7m Rebel Wilson defamation payout

The case set a new defamation record in Australia, prompting a change of tack from Bauer which is no longer contesting whether or not the articles were defamatory but simply the size of the final pay-out.

In a statement Bauer lawyer Adrian Goss said: “It's important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry.”

An Australian jury decided in June that eight separate articles published by Bauer had undermined the Australian actresses Hollywood career, prompting Justice John Dixon to award the record sum in September by saying: “Ms Wilson's reputation as an actress of integrity was wrongly damaged in a manner that affected her marketability in a huge worldwide audience.”

The decision was particularly galling for Bauer after it turned down an offer by Wilson to settle for A$200k before the trial, after the actress had initially sought A$7m in damages.

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