The six-person, all-female jury for Rebel Wilson’s defamation case against Bauer Media has finally delivered its verdict in the Victorian Supreme Court after an epic four-week trial.
The jury returned unanimous verdicts in favour of the Aussie comic and actress. A Bauer mole told B&T during the proceedings that if the publisher were to lose, it was expecting to fork out up to $700,000 in damages to Wilson.
Wilson commenced legal action against Bauer in May after claims the publisher made in its stable of women’s magazines – which includes Woman’s Day, The Australian Women’s Weekly, New Weekly and OK Magazine – “gravely injured her feelings, credit and reputation”.
The claims surfaced in Bauer titles in May last year after rumours about the actress’ age, education and upbringing began appearing online. Most of the evidence was based on reports from old school friends.
Wilson sued Bauer for damages, saying her reputation has suffered and she had been left humiliated and embarrassed. The actress also claims she had been turned down for work following the allegations.
The case took an ugly turn of late, with Bauer’s lawyers accusing Wilson of being a serial liar and referring to the articles as “trivial”.
Bauer issued this statement shortly after the verdict was delivered:
Bauer Media will consider its options following today’s verdict at the Victorian Supreme Court. We have no further comment to make at this time.
