Rebel Wilson hits back after multimillion-dollar damages payout slashed on appeal

REBEL Wilson made history when she was awarded a massive $4.5 million in damages. Now, she’ll get just a fraction of that - but she’s vowed to appeal.

ACTRESS Rebel Wilson has delivered an angry tirade after having her history-making payout in a defamation suit against Bauer Media slashed on appeal, describing the decision as “really bizarre.”

The magazine publisher was originally ordered to pay Wilson damages of $4.5 million, but on appeal, that figure has been slashed to $600,000 — with a reduction of $3.9 million, Wilson will receive just 13.3 per cent of the original amount.

In a series of tweets, Wilson vowed to appeal.

I was hoping the Court of Appeal in Australia would deliver a reasonable judgement today....ummmmm seeing as that HAS CLEARLY NOT happened I look forward to appealing! There’s some really bizarre things in there guys that are so obviously challengeable!

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018

Everybody knows I lost money after those maliciously defamatory articles were printed about me by @bauermedia in 2015. The learned trial judge and Australian jury on the case who heard all the evidence clearly agreed.

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018

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

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

That’s 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 🇦🇺

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 14, 2018

The Pitch Perfect star had originally been awarded the multimillion-dollar figure in damages last year after she was defamed in a series of magazine articles which called into question issues around her real age and real name.

Wilson, 38, had launched the action against the publisher of Woman's Day over articles she alleged portrayed her as a serial liar and cost her movie roles in Hollywood.

The eye-watering figure was Australia’s highest-ever defamation payout, with Wilson saying at the time she was “grateful” to receive a sum “four times the Australian record.”

The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Melbourne on Thursday and Wilson was not present in court for the ruling.

Rebel Wilson outside court in June last year after winning her case. Picture: Getty

Wilson, who is currently filming a movie in Europe, tweeted on Wednesday night that whatever the outcome of the appeal, she had not been in it for the money.

“The Court of Appeal in Australia will be handing down their decision in the morning re my defamation case against @bauermedia. As I’ve said before, I have already WON the case and this is UNCHALLENGED!” she wrote on Twitter.

“What happens tomorrow is to do with the losers @bauermedia quibbling about how much they now have to pay me. While this case was never about the money for me, I do hope to receive as much as possible to give away to charities and to support the Australian film industry.”

While the reduced damages bill will no doubt come as a huge relief to Bauer, it’s still a larger figure than they could have paid - lawyers for the Pitch Perfect star claim that before the trial, she had offered to settle for $200,000.

Wilson became a Hollywood star thanks to roles in films like the Pitch Perfect franchise. Picture: Getty

In the judge’s original ruling last year, it was pointed out that Bauer Media had deliberately capitalised on the much-hyped release of Pitch Perfect 2 in publishing the defamatory articles.

While Wilson had originally said she’d missed out on specific roles (Trolls and Kung Fu Panda) as a result of the defamation, she walked away from that claim before the trial and developed a “trajectory” argument — meaning she figured out how much work she’d lost based on how her career had been tracking before she claimed it nosedived.

Appearing as a guest panellist on The Project in April this year, Wilson spoke out about the international firestorm that started after Woman’s Day deemed her a serial liar over her age, real name and childhood.

“It’s really awful,” she said. “I started wanting to be an actor when I was 18. I worked every single day of my adult life to make that dream come true.

“17 years later when I got to a really fantastic point … a group of women who I didn’t know, who had never met me, orchestrated this take-down and said everything about me in my life was fake.

Wilson’s frequent court appearances were a media circus. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

“It was so devastating to have that happen. I’m proud of myself, though, for standing up to them. This is a huge media organisation owned by German billionaires. That means they can afford to pay, by the way. And they intimidated me — they didn’t want me to sue them publicly. But I felt like it was the right thing to do,” she said.

Wilson told The Project she would be giving the money to charity, as her way of turning something “really, really hurtful and devastating” into a positive thing.

“If you’re going about your business and suddenly there’s this awful campaign that causes an international firestorm around the world to bring you down and say everything about you is a lie, it’s just heartbreaking,” she said. “Especially when I pride myself on being a very real, authentic person, that’s part of my personality.

“They’ve continued to fight me,” she went on. “But I’m still there every step of the way and it’s not about the money for me, but I want as much as possible to go to charity, so I’m here for the appeal.

“There’s so many Australians in all areas and those people shouldn’t suffer that thing because they were successful.”

She also said she hopes it will inspire other celebrities to challenge mistruths made about them in the media.