Court tells Wilson to pay back $4.2m

Original article by Michael Pelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 28-Jun-18

Victoria’s Court of Appeal has ordered Hollywood star Rebel Wilson to pay 80 per cent of the legal costs that Bauer Media incurred in its appeal against her landmark defamation payout. Wilson had initially been awarded a record $A4.7m, which Bauer paid in September 2017. This was subsequently reduced to just $A600,000 plus interest on appeal, and Wilson has been ordered to repay more than $A4.1m.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA)

Wilson confident she can defeat Bauer Media appeal over payout

Original article by Broede Carmody
The Age – Page: 5 : 20-Apr-18

Bauer Media is challenging the size of its payout to actress Rebel Wilson after a Victorian jury found in 2017 that it had defamed her. Justice John Dixon awarded Wilson damages of $A4.5 million, which Bauer is now contesting in the Court of Appeal. Media is not challenging the judgment, but only the amount, which it claims is "manifestly excessive". It is also contesting Justice Dixon’s finding that Wilson should be compensated for roles she claims to have missed out on because of its actions, claiming that there was insufficient evidence on this issue.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Wilson, Bauer quibble over costs

Original article by Adam Cooper
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 16 : 9-Mar-18

The Supreme Court of Victoria has been told that a cost consultant has estimated that Bauer Media should be liable for about $A1.12m of the legal costs incurred by Hollywood star Rebel Wilson in a lengthy defamation lawsuit. Wilson’s legal costs arising from the case were around $A1.4m in total, and she is seeking to recover $A1.3m in costs from Bauer, in addition to the $A4.56m in damages it was ordered to pay after losing the defamation case.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Wilson’s payout is a warning to media: lawyers

Original article by Katie Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 14-Sep-17

Bauer Media has been ordered to pay Rebel Wilson a record $A4.56m in damages over a series of magazine articles that were found to have been defamatory. The Hollywood actress had alleged that the articles published in "Woman’s Day" and on its website had caused her to miss out on securing film roles in the US. Stuart Gibson of law Mills Oakley says the payout will ensure that media companies check their facts thoroughly before publishing "salacious" articles.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA KG, MILLS OAKLEY LAWYERS PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, MADGWICKS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Rebel told me lies, journalist tells court

Original article by Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 3 : 6-Jun-17

The Victorian Supreme Court is continuing to hear a defamation case brought by actress Rebel Wilson against Bauer Media. Wilson contends that her career in Hollywood was tarnished as a result of articles about her in Bauer’s magazines in mid-2015 that alleged she had lied about her age and other parts of her life. Caroline Overington, who wrote a magazine story about Wilson that was published in January 2015, told the court that she based her story on what Wilson had told her, and that she was "shocked" to subsequently learn that much of it was untrue.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA