Wilson won A$4.6 million in the original lawsuit last September, but an appeal judge recently slashed that award to just A$600k earlier this month.
Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star Rebel Wilson has been ordered to pay back almost all of the multi-million dollar award to Bauer Media that she had won from them in a defamation lawsuit.
The 38 year old star saw her award of A$4.6m (£2.7m) – a then-record amount in Australian legal history for a defamation case - slashed to A$600,000 (£338,000) on appeal two weeks ago after a judge ruled that the sum was too punitive on Bauer Media.
The media conglomeration was found to have defamed Wilson in the case last September, after they printed a series of articles in publications they owned in 2015 claiming that the actress had lied about her age and childhood in order to further her career.
Rebel Wilson has been ordered to pay back the award from the defamation case on appeal
The Sydney-born star claimed that features in Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly and OK Magazine had portrayed her as a serial liar and damaged her reputation, telling the court she was sacked from DreamWorks’ animated feature films Trolls and Kung Fu Panda 3 following the stories.
More: Rebel Wilson refuses to shoot nude scenes in her films
Leading up to the trial two weeks ago, Wilson had tweeted: “everybody knows I lost money after those maliciously defamatory articles were printed about me by @BauerMedia in 2015. The learned trial judge and Australian jury on the case who heard all the evidence clearly agreed. But somehow the Court of Appeal have been absolutely flippant with regards to my economic loss, not to mention my overall hurt and distress at having to stand up to these bullies.”
Victoria State’s Court of Appeal in Melbourne ruled, however, that there was no basis for Bauer Media to be held liable for the potential loss of roles, finding that the judge in the original case had relied solely on the testimony of Wilson herself and two Hollywood agents that she had lost work. The same judge upheld the ruling on Wednesday (June 27th), ordering her to pay back the original award with interest.
Wilson, who pledged to donate any sums she received to charity, tweeted after the case: “less going to less fortunate Australians and leaves a billionaire corporation, proven guilty of malicious defamation, being able to get away with their seriously harmful acts for a very low pay day.”
More: Rebel Wilson fighting to recover money spent suing Bauer Media
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