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Episode 44, 11 December 2017 

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A costly Rush?

A costly Rush?

A hasty front page story on Geoffrey Rush has brought a defamation case against The Daily Telegraph

GEOFFREY RUSH: Today I have filed defamation proceedings against The Daily Telegraph in the Federal Court of Australia …

The Daily Telegraph has made false, pejorative and demeaning claims, splattering them with unrelenting bombast on its front pages …

The situation is intolerable and I must now seek vindication of my good name through the courts.

— ABC News, 8 December, 2017

Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch.

And that was Hollywood star Geoffrey Rush last Friday – surprise, surprise – taking aim at the Daily Telegraph and journalist Jonathan Moran for this front-page shocker from 12 days ago:

KING LEER

WORLD EXCLUSIVE

Oscar-winner Rush denies ‘inappropriate behaviour’ during Sydney stage show

— The Daily Telegraph, 30 November, 2017

That page-one screamer was followed by a double-page spread inside the paper, headlined:

STARS BARD BEHAVIOUR

— The Daily Telegraph, 30 November, 2017

And those two taken together, according to Rush’s statement of claim, portrayed him as a “pervert” and “sexual predator”.

As we told you at the time, the Tele offered little detail and no evidence. Not least because the complainant had refused to go public.

Nor was there corroboration of the alleged incident –
from back in 2015 – when Rush was playing King Lear for the Sydney Theatre Company.

As we also told you, it was a story in the Telegraph’s stablemate, the Herald Sun, didn’t want to know about – sending this urgent warning to staff:

… please under no circumstances retweet/share/like/repost any stories about Geoffrey Rush on social media etc until further notice. The Tele are running with a yarn which is highly libellous.

— Text message to Herald Sun staff, 29 November, 2017

So, it’s no surprise that the actor has chosen to sue for damages. What happens next will of course be up to the courts, if it gets that far.

Tele editor Chris Dore’s reaction was to fight back by saying:

The Daily Telegraph accurately reported the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint alleging that Mr Geoffrey Rush had engaged in inappropriate behaviour. We will defend our position in court.

— The Daily Telegraph, 8 December, 2017

Maybe so, but Bauer Media’s recent loss to another Hollywood star, Rebel Wilson, cost the publishers of Woman’s Day and Woman’s Weekly some $7 million.

So, the stakes are high. Watch this space.

 

YOUR COMMENTS

Comments (2)

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  • Sam Tyler :

    12 Dec 2017 10:15:40am

    It would be improper of me to comment on any specific matter before the court.

    I shall therefore say, only in general terms, you understand, that in certain hypothetical legal cases I hope that a theoretical plaintiff is awarded theoretical damages that are so massive that they stop only fractionally short of crucifixion. Hypothetically, that may encourage some, shall we say, "responsibility" that appears to me to be lacking in certain quarters of the media industry.

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  • a happy little debunker :

    11 Dec 2017 9:57:33pm

    What I find damning is that the defamation suit includes damages stemming from the role of ACCTA president - that Rush had claimed he voluntarily resigned from.

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