TO UPDATE: An appeals court upheld the decision to award actor Geoffrey Rush a record amount of damages for being defamed by two publications.
Rush won the largest single person defamation payment in Australia in 2019 after a court found that Sydney Daily telegraph They slandered the actor by accusing him of inappropriate behavior towards a former co-star. The Oscar-winning actor was awarded A $ 2.9M ($ 2M) by a local court.
Rush won the defamation case, and Nationwide News, owned by News Corp, was ordered to pay at least A $ 850,000; this payment is much higher, although Rush was originally looking for A $ 25M in damages.
Today, the appeals court judges ruled that Rush will receive $ 2.9 million in damages. The judges rejected the publishers’ grounds for appeal altogether, including requesting a setback, a cost cut, and a decision that he never slandered Rush.
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The Telegraph argued that the damages were “manifestly excessive”. The court said that there was no factual error in this case, and that the damage assessment was not excessive:
EARLIER: Geoffrey Rush won the largest single person defamation payment in Australia after a court found that Sydney Daily telegraph They slandered the actor by accusing him of inappropriate behavior towards a former co-star.
The Oscar-winning actor was awarded A $ 2.9M ($ 2M) by a local court. Last month, Rush won the defamation case, and Nationwide News, owned by News Corp, was ordered to pay at least A $ 850,000; this payment is much higher, although Rush was originally seeking A $ 25M in damages.
The Telegraph presentation in 2017, published under the title ‘King Leer’, reported that the Sydney Theater Company had received an anonymous complaint against the Oscar Rush winner. The document followed with additional stories about an unpleasant behavior pattern.
Rush sued newspaper and writer Jonathon Moran, alleging that the articles portrayed him as a “pervert” and a “sexual predator.” The stories were initially written without the alleged victim’s permission or involvement, later revealed to be his King Lear co-star Eryn Norvill. However, Norvill would continue to allege a daily pattern of sexual harassment during production.
Judge Michael Wigney said Norvill was “prone to exaggeration” and called the report “a recklessly irresponsible piece of sensational journalism of … the worst kind.”
Rush’s attorney, Sue Chrysanthou, said the newspaper had shown a “complete lack of impartiality and lack of business sense,” but the newspaper’s attorney, Tom Blackburn, responded, saying Rush was “trying to shut down any criticism of the trial. “
