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Rebel Wilson to give defamation damages to charity as she seeks $7 million

Rebel Wilson says any money she receives in damages from her defamation case against Bauer Media will go to charity, scholarships or the Australian film industry.

“And regarding my defamation case win, any [money] I receive will go to charity, scholarships or invested into the Aussie film industry to provide jobs,” she wrote in a tweet Thursday morning.

“I take being a role model very seriously.”

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/877590725029904384

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/877591003963637761

Wilson’s lawyers want more than seven million Australian dollars in damages for defamation, claiming the figure they are seeking is “extremely conservative”.

A lawyer acting for Bauer Media on Thursday called Wilson’s damages claim “extraordinarily large”.

Closing submissions on damages continue in the Victorian Supreme Court after the publisher of Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, NW and OK magazine was last week found to have defamed Wilson in eight articles in May 2015.

Bauer Media, in a series of articles, claimed the star was a serial liar in giving details of her real name, age and childhood to make it in Hollywood.

“You can’t judge reputation and vindication in terms of money,” Bauer Media defence barrister Georgina Schoff QC told the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday.

Ms Schoff said the special damages claim was “extraordinarily large” and made on the “most tenuous of bases”.

She said Wilson didn’t take action for at least 12 months – a “telling” factor for the judge to take into account.

Wilson’s barrister Matt Collins QC on Wednesday said the star should receive AU$5.893 million in special damages — which would cover the loss of one film role — and general damages of $1.2 million, bringing total damages sought to $7.093 million.

Hollywood agent and producer Peter Principato, a 20-year industry veteran with 50 clients, told the court Wilson was the hottest name around after the success of her film Pitch Perfect 2.

He said she could have been commanding five to six million US dollars a film, plus box office bonuses, following the success. But for some reason her fame stopped.

Mr Principato said he did not know any reason, aside from the Bauer articles, as to why Wilson would not have gone on to receive at least two to three offers per year.

– AAP

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