Rebel Wilson unleashes over ‘extremely unfair’ and ‘wrong’ Court of Appeal payout ruling
REBEL Wilson claims she will be left out of pocket despite claiming victory in an epic defamation fight against Bauer Media.
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REBEL Wilson claims she will be left out of pocket despite claiming victory in an epic defamation fight against Bauer Media.
The Hollywood actress took to Twitter to complain that despite the win she wouldn’t make a dollar after the Court of Appeal set aside a compensation order valued at more than $4 million.
“It means I now lose money when all my costs are paid when I was the victim of clear cut malicious defamation, and a jury ruled in my favor on every single point 47-0. It’s extremely unfair and the Court of Appeal made the wrong decision here,” she said.
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“I am trying my hardest and was going to do the right thing with the money by giving it to charity. Now it goes back to a guilty billionaire-owned company.
“Yes I was giving any ‘winnings’ to charity. So it’s such a shame that now over $4 mil goes back to a billionaire corporation found GUILTY of malicious defamation and not to worthy Australians (sic).
“Obviously not fair that when I was maliciously defamed - a judge and jury decided this - I won 47-0 - this was UNCHALLENGED - and now somehow I lose money to a guilty billionaire corporation! (sic)”
Was it wrong of me to pledge that the money received from the case was going to good causes?? To me, after working tirelessly day and night to rebuild my career, I thought it was the right thing to do.
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018
Thatâs now $4 million less going to less fortunate Australians and leaves a billionaire corporation, proven guilty of malicious defamation, being able to get away with their seriously harmful acts for a very low pay day! Clearly not fair. Come on Australia ð¦ðº
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018
But somehow the Court of Appeal have been absolutely flippant with regards to my economic loss, not to mention my overall hurt and distress at having to stand up to these bullies.
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018
@katelangbroek thank you, yes obviously not fair that when I was maliciously defamed - a judge and jury decided this - I won 47-0 - this was UNCHALLENGED- and now somehow I lose money to a guilty billionaire corporation!
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 27, 2018
Wilson won the biggest defamation payout in Australian history last year after taking Bauer to court over a string of articles she said destroyed her reputation.
She was awarded a record $650,000 in general damages and $3,917,472 in special damages for economic loss.
The payout prompted an immediate appeal by Bauer that was upheld by the Court of Appeal that set aside the award for economic loss finding it had been wrongly awarded.
The court agreed with Bauer that trial judge Justice John Dixon had made an error when he ordered Wilson be compensated for losing film roles.
Wilson claimed she was sacked from two films — Trolls and Kung Fu Panda 3 — and unable to land any more work due to the articles.
But the Court of Appeal found she failed to properly establish that she had suffered economic damages by losing movie roles.
It also reduced the general damages amount by $50,000 leaving Wilson with a total payout of just $600,000, still above the $389,000 cap for damages of that kind.
Last week the court ordered Wilson repay $4m in special damages paid to her, plus a further $60,000 in interest.
Wilson was also ordered to pay 80 per cent of the costs incurred by Bauer Media to run its successful appeal.