SYDNEY ¨C Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush won damages of at least 850,000 Australian dollars ($610,000) on Thursday after a court ruled that the Australian arm of News Corp. defamed him by saying he behaved inappropriately toward a co-star in a production of King Lear.
The Federal Court, which found News Corp.¡¯s Daily Telegraph tabloid in Sydney failed to prove its stories were true, will later determine further damages for economic harm, such as Rush¡¯s loss of movie roles and the effect on his career.
¡°This was in all the circumstances a recklessly irresponsible piece of sensationalist journalism of the worst kind, the very worst kind,¡± Judge Michael Wigney said in a decision read to a crowded courtroom.
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