Geoffrey Rush has been awarded a whopping $2.7 million (CAD) after winning his defamation case against the Daily Telegraph.
The Oscar-winning actor will receive the huge payout after the newspaper published a series of articles accusing him of “inappropriate behaviour” towards an actress.
Rush got $2 million for past and future lost earnings after tax, The Guardian reported, as well as a $850,000 payment ordered by Justice Michael Wigney back in April.
He now holds the record for the largest defamation payout to a single person in Australia.
RELATED: Actor Geoffrey Rush Wins Defamation Case After Newspaper’s ‘King Leer’ Article
Rush’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, insisted Thursday that the star had offered to settle for an apology and $50,000 plus costs in early 2018. However, they claimed the publisher, Nationwide News, did not respond.
The 67-year-old had sued The Daily Telegraph‘s publisher and journalist Jonathon Moran over two stories and a poster published in late 2017 — amid the #MeToo movement.
One of the stories had been headlined “King Leer”, and featured an image of Rush from a production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” in which he appeared shirtless and in white makeup.
The reports alleged inappropriate behaviour by Rush towards Eryn Jean Norvill while he was starring in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “King Lear” in 2015 and 2016.
