Acclaimed Australian actor and Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush has announced his intentions to sue News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph after it published allegations of sexual impropriety against the 66 year old.
Rush has announced his intention to sue The Daily Telegraph, Nationwide News Pty Limited, and the journalist who penned the article, Jonathon Moran.
In late November, The Tele published a cover page story under the headline “King Leer” that Rush had acted inappropriately during the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of King Lear which ran from November 2015 to January 2016.
It’s believed that the Sydney Theatre Company had received a complaint from an unnamed person who worked on the production relating to inappropriate touching.
Since the news broke, The Telegraph had covered the story in print nine times. Melbourne’s Herald Sun has only run the story in its print edition twice.
Rush’s lawyers claim the article, billboard and headlines had defamatory meaning and made Rush out to be a “pervert” a “sexual predator” who had engaged in “inappropriate behaviour”.
Announcing his intention to sue last Friday, Rush described the allegations as “slurs” and “hyperbole”.
Rush added: “The Daily Telegraph has made false, pejorative and demeaning claims, splattering them with unrelenting bombasity on its front pages..
“This has created irreparable damage to my reputation [and] been extremely hurtful to my wife, my daughter and my son. The situation is intolerable and I must now seek vindication of my good name through the courts.”
In response, the The Tele’s editor, Chris Dore, said: “The Daily Telegraph accurately reported the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint alleging that Mr Geoffrey Rush had engaged in inappropriate behaviour. We will defend our position in court.”
