Three Australian newspaper have lost an appeal against a defamation payout that was awarded to the West Indies Cricketer Chris Gayle.
Articles published in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Canberra Times claimed that the hard-hitting batsman from Jamaica had partially exposed himself to a female massage therapist in Sydney in 2015.
Gayle had said that these accusations were not true and successfully sued defamation against the three leading dailies.
A court has rejected both the appeal and the bid for a larger payout by Chris Gayle. The 39 year old batsman was awarded A$ 300,000 which is almost 1 crore Indian Rupees by the supreme court of New South Wales last year.
During the trial the massage therapist Leanne Russell alleged that Chris Gayle has partially exposed himself in front of her leaving her “very upset”. She had then contacted Fairfax Media – then the owner of the three newspapers – after being angered when Gayle told a journalist “Don’t blush baby” in a 2016 television interview, the court heard.
Gayle argued Ms Russell’s allegation was fabricated. A jury sided with him, ruling that the newspapers had failed to establish a defense of truth.
In challenging the ruling , the newspapers argued that they should have received a new trial because Chris Gayle’s lawyer charged a full-throttled attack on Ms. Russell during his closing address. The court also turned down Chris Gayle’s counter appeal that is payout was inadequate.
Chris Gayle is a high-profile cricketer who recently turned over his decision of retirement from the sport.
