His accuser, actor Eryn Jean Norvill, said: "I stand by everything I said at trial. I told the truth. I know what happened – I was there." Justice Wigney awarded Mr Rush $850,000 in general and aggravated damages and said further damages would be awarded for economic loss after the parties had provided him with submissions. Eryn Jean Norvill arrives at court on Thursday. Credit:James Brickwood Lawyers for Mr Rush had argued the actor was entitled to between $4.8 million and $20 million for lost future income. The higher estimate was based on 10 years of potential lost earnings but Justice Wigney is expected to arrive at a lower figure. He said on Thursday he believed Mr Rush's earning capacity would "return to the level that it was before the publications" in two years' time.

Justice Wigney said he was not persuaded Ms Norvill was "an entirely credible witness" but he was conscious she had been "dragged into the spotlight" by the Telegraph against her will. Ms Norvill "generally presented as an intelligent, articulate and confident witness who was endeavouring to give an honest recollection of the events in question" but was at times "prone to exaggeration and embellishment", he said. Geoffrey Rush and his wife Jane Menelaus (left) arrive at the Federal Court on Thursday. Credit:James Brickwood This included when she alleged the cast and crew in the Sydney Theatre Company's 2015-16 production of King Lear were complicit in Mr Rush's alleged inappropriate behaviour because they failed to speak out against it, he said. The Telegraph’s editor, Ben English, said: “We are disappointed with Justice Wigney’s findings, in particular his dismissal of Eryn Jean Norvill’s evidence. We disagree with his criticisms of her and she has our full support. We will now review the judgment.”

Loading Justice Wigney said this was a "sad and unfortunate case" and it would have been better for everyone had it been dealt with outside this "harsh and adversarial" forum. He said it was not for the court to "provide some broader social commentary on sexual harassment in the theatre or entertainment industry in Australia, or the #MeToo movement". Mr Rush, 67, sued Rupert Murdoch's Nationwide News for defamation over two articles and a newsagent poster alleging the actor was involved in inappropriate behaviour towards an unnamed co-star during the 2015-16 production of King Lear. The first article, published on the front page of The Daily Telegraph on November 30, 2017, was headlined "King Leer".

"The effect of the pun on the name of the play is to clearly label Mr Rush as someone who leered; who looked at certain people in a sly or lascivious way," Justice Wigney said. Justice Wigney said a second article, on December 1, "doubled-down on the story". The co-star at the centre of the stories was not named but was later revealed to be Ms Norvill, who played King Lear's daughter Cordelia. Ms Norvill did not cooperate with the newspaper before the stories were published but subsequently agreed to give evidence in court. Mr Rush vehemently denied the allegations and said the articles conveyed a string of false and defamatory imputations about him, including that he was a "pervert" and a "sexual predator" who "committed sexual assault" while working on King Lear. On Thursday, Justice Wigney said he accepted Mr Rush's evidence and rejected the Telegraph's truth defence.

He said Mr Rush "was, for the most part, an impressive witness". The actor tended on occasion to give "very long-winded and wordy answers which did not directly answer the question" but this did not reflect "adversely on his credibility". Ms Norvill told the court Mr Rush stroked down the side of her right breast to her hip during a preview performance of King Lear in late 2015 and she "believed he had done it deliberately". Justice Wigney said he accepted "the evidence given by Mr Rush that he never intentionally touched Ms Norvill’s breast" and he considered the allegation "somewhat implausible and improbable". "How could Mr Rush maintain the focus and state of mind which he considered necessary ... and yet engage in such a base and crude action as intentionally stroking Ms Norvill’s breast?" he said. Justice Wigney said he was also not persuaded that Mr Rush rubbed Ms Norvill on her lower back under her shirt while they were standing offstage, or that he simulated groping her and "cupping" her breasts during a rehearsal.