Bauer Media has announced it will appeal the decision to award actress Rebel Wilson a $4.56 million defamation payday.
In a short statement to media today, the publisher said: “Bauer Media has today advised that it will be appealing the quantum of damages in the recent defamation judgement.”
The payout, which was awarded after a judge found Wilson was defamed by Bauer titles including Women’s Day and Women’s Weekly, is the largest defamation payout in Australian legal history.
Bauer Media General Counsel Adrian Goss added: “It’s important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry.”
In handing down his initial verdict in mid-September in the Victorian Supreme Court, Justice John Dixon was scathing of the magazine publisher and described the series of articles as both “orchestrated” and a deliberate “slur”.
“Bauer Media published to advance its own corporate interests to improve its circulation or increase views, hits, in the expectation of higher profits,” Dixon said.
Wilson has said she would give any money she received from her defamation win to the Australian film industry, as well as to charity.
