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Rebel Wilson awarded $3.66 million in damages after winning defamation trial

Written by . Published: September 13 2017

Rebel Wilson has been awarded $3.66 million in damages after winning her defamation trial against a magazine publishing company.


The Pitch Perfect star won her defamation case after accusing Bauer Media Group of painting her as a liar in eight articles which appeared in Woman's Day, Women's Weekly, OK Magazine and New Weekly in 2015, in which they suggested she had publicly lied about her age, real name and upbringing.

And on Wednesday (13Sep17), Justice John Dixon determined the amount Wilson would receive in damages, stating that the large amount was required to "vindicate" the 37-year-old screen star, as her reputation as an "actress of integrity (has been) wrongly damaged."

Wilson was in London at the time of the damages decision, but her lawyer Richard Leder said outside court that the amount was around four times higher than the previous record set in Australia for a defamation case. This is despite the fact that Wilson had actually sought more than $5.6 million in damages.

And while Wilson's legal team is planning to ask Bauer to pay all the actress' legal costs, Leder added: "Rebel said that this case wasn't about money. She said that it was about holding Bauer Media to account."

Bauer Media executives said they were considering the judgment when contacted by the Associated Press.

Wilson previously revealed that any money she received in damages following the case would go straight to good causes.

"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," she tweeted.

During the three-week trial at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Rebel claimed the articles had damaged her reputation and career, costing her film roles, while lawyers for the publisher argued that the pieces were "trivial" and unlikely to cause any real harm.

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