Actor Geoffrey Rush will receive A$2.9 million ($2 million) from the Daily Telegraph after he won his defamation case against the Sydney newspaper but he would have accepted just A$50,000 if it came with an apology.
Justice Michael Wigney in April found the Daily Telegraph’s publisher, Nationwide News, and journalist Jonathon Moran were reckless regarding the truth when they reported Rush had been accused of inappropriate behaviour during a Sydney theatre production of King Lear.
The judge said a poster and two articles contained several defamatory meanings—including that Rush was a pervert and a sexual predator—but the publisher hadn’t proven they were true.
Geoffrey Rush leaves court with his wife Jane Menelaus. April 11, 2019, in Sydney, Australia. Jessica Hromas/Getty Images
Following an agreement between the parties, the judge on May 23 awarded Rush A$1.98 million for past and future lost earnings.
Justice Wigney had previously awarded the Oscar winner A$850,000 in general and aggravated damages plus A$42,300 interest.
But Rush’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, revealed on Thursday in the Federal Court that the actor had offered in early 2018 to settle the case in exchange for A$50,000 plus costs and an apology.
She said Nationwide News didn’t respond.
The Telegraph and Moran instead tried to prove a truth defence at trial, based largely on the evidence of Rush’s former co-star, Eryn Jean Norvill, who didn’t participate in the 2017 articles.
She alleged Rush sexually harassed her during the Sydney Theatre Company’s King Lear production in 2015-16 when she played the daughter of his titular character.
Justice Wigney ultimately said Norvill was at times “prone to exaggeration and embellishment” and he wasn’t persuaded she was an entirely credible witness. Norvill later said she stood by her testimony.
Nationwide News and Moran are appealing Justice Wigney’s defamation decision arguing his conduct “gave rise to an apprehension of bias.”
