SYDNEY: A leading publisher said Monday it would appeal Australia’s largest defamation payout awarded to Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson as the “unprecedented” amount had major implications for the media industry.
The “Pitch Perfect” star was awarded Aus$4.5 million ($3.5 million) in damages against Bauer Media by an Australian court last month over magazine articles claiming she lied about her age and background to further her career.
“It’s important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry,” Bauer Media’s General Counsel Adrian Goss said in a brief statement.
In his ruling, Supreme Court of Victoria Justice John Dixon said Bauer — which owns magazines Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly and Cosmopolitan — had “acted in its own corporate interests to secure improved circulation, or increased views/hits.”
Bauer argued the allegations made in Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015 were true and denied they had damaged 37-year-old Wilson’s reputation.
Bauer’s parent company, Bauer Media Group, is a worldwide publishing house based in Hamburg with magazine titles in 15 countries including Britain, the US, China and Russia, as well as various television and radio assets.
Wilson has said that she would give the defamation payout to charity.
Australian publisher to challenge record Rebel Wilson payout
Australian publisher to challenge record Rebel Wilson payout
Egypt’s grand museum begins live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient boat
- The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza
CAIRO: Egypt began a public live restoration of King Khufu’s ancient solar boat at the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, more than 4,000 years after the vessel was first built.
Egyptian conservators used a small crane to carefully lift a fragile, decayed plank into the Solar Boats Museum hall — the first of 1,650 wooden pieces that make up the ceremonial boat of the Old Kingdom pharaoh.
The 4,600-year-old boat was built during the reign of King Khufu, the pharaoh who also commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza. The vessel was discovered in 1954 in a sealed pit near the pyramids, but its excavation did not begin until 2011 due to the fragile condition of the wood.
“You are witnessing today one of the most important restoration projects in the 21st century,” Egyptian Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said.
“It is important for the museum, and it is important for humanity and the history and the heritage.”
The restoration will take place in full view of visitors to the Grand Egyptian Museum over the coming four years.
