The moment you missed on The Project: Rebel Wilson’s message to Australian media
Last year, Aussie actress Rebel Wilson made headlines after winning a record $4.56 million in damages after Bauer Media was found to have defamed the star by depicting her as a serial liar.
Now, Wilson has slammed Australian media for their “negative treatment” of celebrities, saying “a lot” of them had “been driven out of Australia”.
On The Project last night, the Pitch Perfect actress revealed that she felt stressed about coming back to Australia after articles claimed she lied about her name, age and childhood.
“I know a lot of Australian celebrities have been driven out of Australia because of negative treatment by the media,” Wilson said.
“I think that's sad, because Australia is an awesome country.”
Wilson told The Project co-host Carrie Bickmore that she had felt anxious to return to her home country after Bauer Media, which owns Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day, published the defaming articles in 2015.
“Yeah I did, especially when all of the major media organisations – except for Channel 10, which was the only sensible one – tried to join in the case against me,” she said.
“[They did so] purely because of corporate greed and they don't want to take responsibility when they make mistakes, and that's awful and it's kind of not a great feeling.”
This week, Wilson returns to the Supreme Court of Victoria as Bauer Media challenges the $4.56 million damages bill, which the company claims is “manifestly excessive”.
Wilson is one of several Australian celebrities who have voiced their dislike of the Australian media.
Shane Warne and Russell Crowe have both previously voiced their frustration on social media after false magazine reports were published about their love lives.
Actress Melissa George famously said that she was visiting Australia for the “last time” in 2012, due to the bad treatment she was receiving by the local media.
“I’d rather be having a croissant in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City,” she told Fairfax Media.
George denied ever saying the comment, however, the journalist who interviewed her has stood by the article.