Rebel Wilson wins AU$4.6M in damages for defamation

MELBOURNE, Sept 13 (Reuters) — Australian comedian Rebel Wilson on Wednesday on Wednesday won AU$4.6 million ($3.69 million) in damages after a global magazine publisher was found to have defamed her in a string of articles which led to her losing out on Hollywood movie roles.

The Supreme Court of Victoria ordered Bauer Media to pay Sydney-born Wilson, best known for her roles in the Pitch Perfect films, A$650,000 in general damages, including aggravated damages, plus AU$3,917,472 in special damages.

"The damage suffered by Miss Wilson warrants a substantial damages award to vindicate her and nail the lie," Justice John Dixon said, reading out a summary of his judgement.

He said aggravated damages were warranted due to Bauer Media's "unprecedented" global reach and its decision to run a string of articles which claimed Wilson had lied about her age, real name, and some childhood events, even after it knew the allegations were false.

"The allegations were based on information from a source who required payment and anonymity and whom the editor considered had an axe to grind," Dixon said.

He said Bauer Media had "kept the story alive for days" for its own profit, knowing the allegations in Woman's Day would be picked up by other entertainment media worldwide, and as a result, Wilson missed out on a number of film roles.

Wilson, who was in Britain, said on social media: "Am going through the full judgement in my defamation case with my lawyers and will make a statement later in the day."

Bauer Media said in a statement on its website it was considering the judgement. — Reuters