Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush has been awarded an Australian record in libel damages after winning his case against a newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behaviour toward an actress.
Oscar-winning Rush has been awarded a total of 2.9m Australian dollars (£1.5m) in damages by a Sydney judge.
The 67-year-old Australian had sued the publisher of Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph and journalist Jonathon Moran in the Federal Court over two stories and a poster published in late 2017.
Justice Michael Wigney found in April that the publisher, News Corp-owned Nationwide News, and Moran were reckless regarding the truth when they reported Rush had been accused of inappropriate behaviour by actress Eryn Jean Norvill.
She played the daughter of Rush’s character in a Sydney theatre production of King Lear in 2015 and 2016.
The judge found a poster and two articles contained several defamatory meanings but the publisher had not proven the meanings were true.
Wigney at the time awarded Rush £461,000 in damages plus £23,000 interest for non-economic loss.
But he wanted to consider further special damages, including loss of earnings.
Following an agreement between the parties, the judge today awarded Rush a further £1.07m for past and future economic loss.
The publisher and journalist are appealing against the verdict.
Rush’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, said Rush had offered in early 2018 to settle in exchange for an apology and £27,000 plus costs, but Nationwide News did not respond.
Comic actress Rebel Wilson in 2017 had previously won an Australian record £2.55m damages in a defamation case against magazine publisher Bauer Media.
But the damages were reduced by 90 per cent on appeal.
Orange Is The New Black actress Yael Stone was revealed two weeks ago as the potential witness who Wigney refused to allow to give evidence in Rush’s defamation suit.
Nationwide News lost a mid-trial bid last November to amend its defence based on Stone’s evidence.
Wigney said the proposed amendment raised new allegations concerning Rush’s conduct and would delay court proceedings and cause him “manifest and palpable” prejudice.
The trial by then had run for 12 days and ended three days later.
The judge prohibited Stone from being publicly identified and the Netflix series actress was described in the media as Witness X.
Stone told The New York Times in December that Rush engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour when they starred in The Diary Of A Madman on a Sydney stage in 2010.
Rush said in a statement the allegations “are incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context”.
“However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work.
“I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress.
“This, most certainly, has never been my intention,” Rush said at the time.
Rush won the best actor Oscar in 1996 for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in Shine and was nominated for roles in Shakespeare In Love, Quills and The King’s Speech.
He is also famed for his portrayal of Captain Barbossa in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films.
He received Australia’s highest civilian honour in 2014, the Companion of the Order of Australia, for service to the arts.
Picture: Reuters/Phil Mccarten
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