Rebel Wilson has accused Bauer Media bosses of intimidating her during their long legal fight.
An Australian court awarded the Pitch Perfect actress a record breaking $3.6 million in damages in September (17), after she sued the international media company for defamation over claims made in their publications that she lied about her age and background.
Talking about the case in an interview with Australian TV talk show The Project, Rebel said she was proud of herself for fighting the case as she was left heartbroken and intimidated by executives’ actions.
“It was so devastating to have that happen,” the Ausssie star explained. “I’m proud of myself, though, for standing up to them. This is a huge media organisation owned by German billionaires. That means they can afford to pay, by the way. And they intimidated me – they didn’t want me to sue them publicly. But I felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Bauer Media executives have challenged the size of the payout and Australian officials are yet to come to a decision on whether it will stand. However, she has already been awarded 80 per cent of her $1.08 million legal costs.
Revealing the toll the ordeal has taken on her she said, “If you’re going about your business and suddenly there’s this awful campaign that causes an international firestorm around the world to bring you down and say everything about you is a lie, it’s just heartbreaking.”
In his September ruling, Justice John Dixon ignored Australia’s cap of $306,000 on general damages awards, citing her global fame. Rebel and her lawyers argued the false articles, which appeared in Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015, cost her movie roles. She is planning to give her payout to charity.
