TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Rebel Wilson ordered to pay back $3m plus interest
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A file photo taken in London on February 9, 2016, shows Australian actress Rebel Wilson posing on the red carpet during arrivals for the European premiere of How To Be Single. (AFP/Leon Neal)
H
ollywood actress Rebel Wilson was ordered to return almost $3.1 million with interest to an Australian publisher Wednesday after a defamation payout was slashed on appeal.
The "Pitch Perfect" star was awarded Aus$4.5 million ($3.3 million) in damages against Bauer Media last September over articles claiming she lied about her age and background to further her career.
It was the largest defamation win in Australian legal history and Bauer appealed, arguing the size of the settlement set a dangerous precedent and there were errors of law in the judgement.
The Victorian Court of Appeal agreed and cut the payout to just Aus$600,000 earlier this month in a decision the actress called "absolutely flippant".
Bauer had already handed over the money and the Court of Appeal on Wednesday ordered Wilson to repay nearly Aus$4.2 million, including costs and more than Aus$60,000 in interest.
The star did not dispute that the money needed to be returned, but argued the interest should be charged at the prevailing Reserve Bank cash rate of 1.5 percent, rather than the two percent sought by Bauer.
The appeal court disagreed and ordered interest be paid at the higher rate.
Read also: Rebel Wilson to give record defamation payout to charity
Wilson vowed after the initial judgement to give any payout to charity and the Australian film industry. It is not clear whether she has already done so.
She had claimed a series of articles in Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015 had portrayed her as a serial liar and damaged her reputation.
The Sydney-born actress told the trial she was sacked from DreamWorks animated feature films "Trolls" and "Kung Fu Panda 3" following the stories.
But the Court of Appeal said there was no basis for her to receive financial damages for the potential loss of roles.
It found that the previous judge had relied on evidence from Wilson and two Hollywood agents to draw the conclusion that she had lost job opportunities.
