Geoffrey Rush Wanted To Settle For $50K And Apology in Defamation Case

Will now receive $2.9 million

Geoffrey Rush fronts the media outside the Supreme Court of New South Wales after being awarded AUD$850,000 damages on April 11, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Actor Geoffrey Rush will receive A$2.9 million ($2 million) from the Daily Telegraph after he won his defamation case against the Sydney newspaper but he would have accepted just A$50,000 if it came with an apology.

Justice Michael Wigney in April found the Daily Telegraph’s publisher, Nationwide News, and journalist Jonathon Moran were reckless regarding the truth when they reported Rush had been accused of inappropriate behaviour during a Sydney theatre production of King Lear.