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Rebel Wilson loses bid to keep record defamation case payout

Rebel Wilson (Credit: Yui Mok/PA)
Rebel Wilson (Credit: Yui Mok/PA)

Rebel Wilson has lost an appeal to keep the majority of a massive payout in a defamation lawsuit against magazine publisher Bauer Media.

The Bridesmaids star sued the company’s title Woman’s Day in 2015 over articles which suggested she had lied about her age, her real name and her upbringing.

She was awarded a massive £2.6 million payout, after claiming that the articles cost her movie roles, and also claimed a further £4 million in damages.

It was a record sum for a defamation case in the Australian courts, but in June this year, an appeal court ruling in favour of Bauer reduced the sum by 90 percent.

The appeal claimed that the amount of money lost by Wilson was not provable, and that Wilson would have to pay back £2.3 million and 80 percent of the publishing company’s legal costs.

Wilson then appealed against the reduction in her payout, but the court today refused her application.

(Credit: EFE)
(Credit: EFE)

“In our opinion there are insufficient prospects that an appeal will succeed,” said Justice Virginia Bell at the court in Canberra.

Speaking to reporters, Wilson said: “This has been a long fight and a long journey in the courts, but the great thing about today is that it brings it to a definitive end.

“The whole reason for bringing this case is that I wanted to stand up to a bully, which is Bauer Media.

“Today was just about a small point of special damages and for me it was never about the money, it was about standing up to a bully and I’ve done that.”

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