Last month, Rebel Wilson was awarded record damages of AU$4.56 million (C$4.44 million) over magazine articles the actress said cost her roles in Hollywood films.
On Monday, Bauer Media, publisher of the Australian magazines Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, NW and OK, said it would lodge an appeal.
“It’s important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry,” Adrian Goss, a lawyer for the group, said in a statement.
READ MORE: Rebel Wilson awarded over $4M in defamation case
Bauer Media argued during the case that the articles in question were not defamatory, but the appeal announced on Monday contests only the payout’s size.
The Bridesmaids actress responded to the news of the appeal on Twitter, saying she’s “not surprised that Bauer has decided to appeal the damages amount in my recent defamation case considering their disgusting history.”
She continued: “I am disappointed that this now delays my plans to support Australian charities and Australians in the entertainment industry.”
“Nevertheless if this is a chance to expose more of their disgraceful practices & present more evidence on damages, I welcome it,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson went on to thank “the past and present employees of this media organization who have come forward with helpful information.”
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Wilson also claimed that Bauer media “has hired a PR firm Thrive PR to get people to say positive things about their appeal today. All orchestrated, total rubbish x”
READ MORE: Rebel Wilson is suing an Australian publisher over defamatory articles
In 2015, the magazines Australian Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day, published eight separate articles which Wilson claimed defamed her as a liar, and she said the articles cost her jobs and damaged her reputation.
The articles cited a former classmate, who accused the Bridesmaids actress of being six years older than what the media had been reporting. The classmate also said that Wilson went by a different name in high school.
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After Justice John Dixon awarded record damages to Wilson in September, her lawyer, Richard Leder, said outside court that the damages were about four times higher than the previous Australian record for a defamation case.
Leder also said that Wilson’s legal team would apply for Bauer Media to pay all her legal costs. She had sought more than AU$7 million.
Bauer Media had previously branded that damage claim “extraordinarily large” and made on the “most tenuous of basis.”
Dixon strongly criticized Bauer Media for failing to properly investigate claims made about Wilson, and for publishing them despite knowing they were false.
“The information was based on a source who required payment and anonymity and whom the editor considered had an axe to grind,” he said.
Dixon also said a substantial award amount was required to “vindicate” Wilson after her reputation as an “actress of integrity was wrongly damaged.”
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In June, the jury found Bauer had said Wilson lied about her age, claiming to be six years younger, and had falsely claimed to have been named Rebel at birth.
They also found that Bauer had said Wilson lied about having a hallucination about winning an Academy Award while sick with malaria, about her parents being dog trainers, about being related to U.S. entertainment entrepreneur Walt Disney and about being raised in a “ghetto” area of Sydney.
Wilson blamed the articles for her film contracts with Kung Fu Panda 3 and Trolls being terminated.
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