Rebel Wilson Breaks Down in Court in Defamation Suit

Actress sobs on stand, accuses magazine of printing lies about her
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2017 12:44 PM CDT
Rebel Wilson Says Magazine Lies Nearly Ruined Career
Rebel Wilson at the 2016 Australians in Film Awards in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Rebel Wilson told a courtroom Wednesday that she's not a "glamorous actress" like other Australian exports such as Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett, and thus had to work harder to make her name in Hollywood. She's now alleging that all her hard work was nearly thrown away when a magazine falsely suggested she'd invented much of her life story, reports 9News. During the third day of a defamation trial in a Melbourne court, Wilson said the publisher of Women's Day, Bauer Media, printed stories in 2015 suggesting she'd lied about everything from her real name to a malaria diagnosis. Wilson, 37, says she lost a role in Kung Fu Panda 3 and had her role reduced in 2016's How to Be Single after the magazine printed easily disprovable lies told by a "jealous" and "obsessed" former classmate, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Wilson broke into sobs at times, though she declined the judge's offer of a break to compose herself. Emails between the anonymous source and magazine writer Shari Nementzik were read in court, including some in which Nementzik expresses doubts about her source's claims. The magazine opted not to go with the story in 2013 on the advice of lawyers, but ran it in 2015 as Wilson's Pitch Perfect 2 was being released. Wilson said she developed a stress sore on her face that meant several of her scenes had to be cut from How to Be Single. Stress related to the articles—discussed on shows like Entertainment Tonight, per the Guardian—led to other health problems as well, she told the court. Bauer Media contends the articles were not defamatory. The trial is expected to last three weeks. (Check out Wilson's April Fool's prank on set.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X