The Australian Federal Court ruled that actor Jeffrey Rush was the victim of false accusations of harassment, and ordered the Nationwide News media group, which owns The Daily Telegraph Australian tabloid, to pay compensation to the victim in the amount of $ 607.5 thousand. In 2017 the newspaper published two articles in which Rush was accused of misbehavior. They argued that the artist allegedly solicited colleagues at the time of the play “King Lear” in 2015.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, in addition to the compensation determined by the court, the actor can also seek additional payments for the losses incurred during the trial and the damage caused to his career.
According to Judge Michael Wigny, The Daily Telegraph was unable to confirm the veracity of the published information.
“This is a reckless manifestation of the worst kind of sensational journalism,” the judge said.
It was also noted that the publication of the tabloid relied on the statements of "an unreliable witness, prone to exaggeration and embellishment."
After the trial, Geoffrey Rush said that he was pleased with such a decision, but "there are no winners in this case."
Scandalous publications
As the wife of Rush told, the actor was seriously worried about the charges published in the tabloid.
The scandal erupted in late 2017, when The Daily Telegraph published an article “King Lear” about the events of 2015. It described how the actor allegedly committed inappropriate behavior in relation to a production colleague. In December of the same year, the newspaper published a second article on this topic. In both materials the name of the woman who allegedly suffered was not called.
Articles about attributed harassment are very knocked down by the actor. According to spouse Rush Jane Menelos, he saw the publication in the newspaper, he burst into tears, and later said that he was going to end his career.
“They just destroyed everything I was trying to create,” the artist told his wife, noting that he no longer wants to appear on the stage, because such materials hit his reputation.
Rush was also worried about the mental state of the children, not knowing how they would perceive such material.
“He felt that the children were moving away from him, not knowing how to talk to him about such serious things,” said Menelos.
- Erin Jean Norville and Jeffrey Rush
- Gettyimages.ru
- © Reuters
In December 2017, Rush filed a libel suit, noting that he intended to "respond to exaggerations, lies and falsified information."
"They posted false statements with pompous headlines on the front pages," the actor added.
The main witness to the court was called by a colleague of the actor on the production of "King Lear" Erin Jean Norville. According to her, Rush repeatedly allowed himself indecent behavior towards her.
According to the lawyer actor Bruce McClintock, newspaper articles were written by a journalist who was trying to find the “Australian equivalent” of the scandal around producer Harvey Weinstein.
Captain Barbossa and other roles
Jeffrey Rush is a famous Australian film and theater actor. His career began in 1970, when, after graduation, he took a job at the Queensland Theater Company. In 1975, Rush went to Paris for two years, where he studied acting at the French mime, Jacques Lecoque.
For a long time, Rush played a little in the cinema, preferring to work in the theater: in the 1970s, he did not play in any film. His debut on the big screen took place only in 1981 in the film “Foolish”. However, this and other few roles of that period for the most part went unnoticed by the public.
In 1996, the film “Brilliance” was released, where Rush played Australian pianist David Helfgott. The tape received high marks from critics and was nominated for an Oscar in seven categories. As a result, the picture received one statuette - Rush was awarded an award for the best male role. "Glitter" also brought him BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
Then followed roles in such tapes as “Shakespeare in Love” and “Elizabeth”. In the film “Frida” about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the actor played the Russian revolutionary Lev Trotsky.
However, the world-wide fame Rush brought the role of captain Barbossa in the film studio Disney "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." Subsequently, he starred in four more parts of this franchise.
Other famous films with Rush include Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Marquis de Sade's Feather, for a role in which he was nominated again for an Oscar, and King Says! For the last film, he received a BAFTA award (for best male supporting role).