THE defence’s star witness in Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush’s defamation case against a Sydney publisher and journalist has told a court he “damaged” her.
Rush is suing The Daily Telegraph’s publisher, Nationwide News, and reporter Jonathon Moran over the allegation he behaved inappropriately toward a co-star — later revealed to be Eryn Jean Norvill — during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear.
Rush, 67, has vehemently denied the claims against him and argues articles printed by the newspaper portrayed him as a pervert and a sexual predator.
Norvill, the woman at the centre of the case, continued her testimony under cross-examination by Rush’s lawyer, Bruce McClintock SC in the Federal Court today. She walked into the courtroom with her head held high and family members by her side, while holding their hands. Wearing a black suit and white blouse, and with her hair in a neat bun, Ms Norvill returned to the witness box for the second consecutive day where she described Rush’s behaviour during the show as “forever playful” and “cheeky”.
“He was cheeky,” Norvill said. “But that cheekiness damaged me.”
Rush watched on, sitting just a few metres from Novrill in the witness box, with his wife beside him.
Norvill told the court there was “a culture of bullying and harassment” in the rehearsal room and in the entertainment industry.
“It is accepted and normalised,” she said.
“There were bullies and sexual predators. Sexual harassment happens in my workplace … it happened often … people knew about it but didn’t know what to do … they were frightened … that kept that silence in place.”
She told the court that senior cast members including high-profile stage actress Robyn Nevin — had enabled Rush’s alleged behaviour.
“She enabled that behaviour as did everyone in the room,” Norvill said.
Norvill told the court that she and Nevin were from different generations and could have different ideas about what was culturally appropriate in the workplace.
“Robyn and I can still be friends,” she said.
“I don’t have any hardships with Robyn (just because) she didn’t think there was a problem.
“Ms Nevin has always been kind to me. Whether she enabled Geoffrey’s behaviour is a different matter.”
Nevin testified last week that she hadn’t seen anything during King Lear to justify Norvill’s complaint and she believed it to be baseless.
‘YOUR HONOUR, I’M NOT LYING’
Mr McClintock today put it to Norvill that she told “a whole pack of disgusting lies” in a bid to “blacken and smear” his client’s reputation to a Sydney Theatre Company colleague. Ms Norvill said she did not.
“Your honour, I’m not lying,” Norvill said.
The court heard that the colleague, Annalise Crowe, then emailed the theatre’s executive director about what Norvill had reportedly told her regarding Rush’s alleged sexual harassment of her.
In an email to staff following the meeting, Crowe wrote Norvill had told her she “directly said (Rush’s) behaviour and comments were making her feel uncomfortable and she asked him directly to stop”.
She also wrote that Rush had followed Norvill into the toilets at an end of production function. The court previously heard that Norvill told Rush to “please stop” when he allegedly ran his fingers along her back backstage, but that she didn’t raise the allegations with him directly at any other time.
Norvill denied she said Rush followed her into a bathroom and told the court it was simply Crowe’s “recollection” of their conversation which went on over “a bunch of hours” in a Sydney pub.
Nationwide News and Moran are pleading a defence of truth in the judge-alone Federal Court trial after Norvill — who didn’t speak with the journalist before the stories were published — agreed in July to testify.
On Tuesday, the first day of her testimony, Norvill told the court that Rush made groping gestures toward her during rehearsals and stroked across the side of her right breast during a scene on stage.
“It couldn’t have been an accident because it was slow and pressured,” she said.
The hearing continues.
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