A Melbourne court has this morning slashed the defamation payout Bauer Media has to pay to the actor Rebel Wilson to $600,000.
Wilson was originally awarded $4.5 million in September last year after a court ruled that a number of Bauer titles had falsely painted the Perfect Pitch star as a serial liar.
At the time, the payout was the highest ever defamation payout in Australian legal history.
Initially, Wilson was awarded a record $650,000 in general damages and $3,917,472 in special damages that prompted an immediate appeal by Bauer’s lawyers.
Melbourne’s Court of Appeal this morning reduced the general damages payout to $600,000 and set aside the special damages amount finding it had been wrongly awarded.
Wilson had promised any money she did receive would go to charities or acting schools.
Last night Wilson tweeted: “What happens tomorrow is to do with the losers @bauermedia quibbling about how much they now have to pay me,” Wilson said.
“While this case was never about the money for me … I do hope to receive as much as possible to give away to charities and to support the Australian film industry,” she said.
