Australia news agency Fairfax Media has lost in their bid to avoid paying Chris Gayle over US $200,000 as part of a defamation payout that was awarded to the West Indies opener in 2017. Fairfax Media had appealed the court’s decision on the basis that they should have received a new trial because Gayle's lawyer had launched a "full-throttled attack" on the credibility of massage therapist Leanne Russell who alleged that Gayle had partially exposed himself to her in a dressing room at the 2015 ICC World Cup.
Gayle argued that Russell's allegation that was published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times was fabricated. A jury sided with the veteran Jamaican, ruling that the newspapers had failed to establish a defence of truth.
A court has also rejected both the appeal and a bid by Gayle for a larger payout. The decision to throw out the appeal means now that the left-hander will receive a payout of close to $29 million Jamaican.