On Thursday, in the Victorian Supreme Court, she won her defamation suit against Bauer Media, following a series of articles that alleged she was a liar.
Rebel told reporters following the verdict that she “had to stand up to a bully” and that the all-female jury had sent the publisher a “very, very clear message.”
“It’s been very, very tough to fight this huge company, but I’ve done it and it’s all over,” she said. She added it’d been exhausting and draining but that the only way she could “stand up to a huge media organisation was to take them to court publicly.”
“It’s surreal to have to prove your own life in court,” she said.
“I have a lot of young fans, a lot of teenagers … to me what saddened me the most about this was that so many people around the world believed these articles. I had to stand up for myself.
“To me this is not about the number, what I was hoping was that the jury would do the right thing and send a message to these tabloids,” she said.
In court, Rebel had said during the trial: “Not everyone has the strength to stand up for themselves, but I do.”
Yesterday, she said: “I’m a person who is really confident in my own skin and felt I could take them on.”
The lawsuit was sparked by an incident in July 2015, when Rebel was told by the 12-person production team of kids animation movie Kung-Fu Panda 3 that she was dropped from the movie, with the chief executive saying, “Unfortunately, you’re too divisive to be in this movie.”
The incident followed eight articles published across Bauer publications: Woman’s Day, Women’s Weekly, OK Magazine and New Weekly.
The jury had been asked to consider 40 questions before delivering its verdict, especially whether the fact Rebel stopped winning major film roles could be linked to the articles published by Bauer.
Outside the courtroom, Rebel told journalists that too often those who work for tabloid magazines don’t follow professional ethics. She said she feel such conduct “can only be described as disgusting and disgraceful”.
She added that she loved her job as an actor and was looking forward to returning to her career.
“I’m filming a movie in New York with fellow Aussie Liam Hemsworth who I get to pash … So that’s what’s next for me.”
“When I’ve been feeling really down about the stress of this court case, I’ve just been thinking about pashing Liam and how good that’s going to be,” she joked.