Seven West Media Chair Kerry Stokes Ordered to Pay $13.5m Legal Costs After Roberts-Smith Defamation Loss

Kerry Stokes, chairman of Seven West Media, has been ordered to pay $13.5 million in legal costs to Nine Entertainment after backing war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith in a failed defamation lawsuit. Roberts-Smith sued The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Canberra Times over 2018 reports accusing him of war crimes, including complicity in the murder of four unarmed civilians in Afghanistan, but the courts upheld the truth of these claims. Stokes' private company, Australian Capital Equity, was responsible for the legal costs, which include $13.3 million fixed costs and $225,000 for assessment-related expenses. Despite Roberts-Smith’s initial backing by Stokes, including private funding estimated at $15 million for the trial, Stokes did not finance the subsequent appeal, which Roberts-Smith also lost. The total legal costs of the proceedings have been estimated between $30 million and $40 million. Stokes had publicly supported Roberts-Smith, calling him innocent and criticizing journalists, but after the court rulings, he is now financially liable for the substantial legal expenses incurred by the media companies in defending their reports.