Australian actor Yael Stone has been revealed as the mystery "Witness X" who a Sydney newspaper publisher tried but failed to have testify in the Geoffrey Rush defamation case.
The Daily Telegraph's publisher and journalist Jonathon Moran in October 2018 lost a mid-trial bid to amend their defence to Rush's defamation claim based on the evidence of Stone who starred in the United States TV series Orange is the New Black.
Justice Michael Wigney said the proposed amendment raised new allegations concerning Rush's conduct and would delay proceedings causing him "manifest and palpable" prejudice.
Yael Stone, best known as the character Lorna Morello in the Netflix drama Orange Is The New Black, has now been revealed as the mystery witness . Source: Supplied
The Federal Court judge at the time prohibited Stone being named but on Friday that order was revoked with the consent of all parties.
Rush went on to win the defamation case with Justice Wigney in April finding Nationwide News and Moran defamed the Oscar winner in articles that made him out to be a pervert and sexual predator.
The judge said they were reckless regarding the truth when they reported Rush had been accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a co-star - later revealed to be Eryn Jean Norvill - during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear.
Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his case against the Daily Telegraph. Source: AAP
The judge found Norvill was at times "prone to exaggeration and embellishment" and he wasn't persuaded she was entirely credible as a witness.
Stone in December 2018 told the New York Times and ABC TV that Rush behaved inappropriately toward her years earlier during the stage production Diary of A Madman.
She alleged Rush danced naked in front of her in a dressing room "in a playful, clownish manner" and used a small mirror to spy on her in the shower.
Stone alleged he sent text messages that "became more sexual in nature but always encased in this very highfalutin intellectual language" to which, she said, she "enthusiastically and willingly" responded.
"I'm embarrassed by the ways I participated," Stone told the Times.
Yael Stone (left) and Geoffrey Rush (right). Source: AAP, Getty
Rush at the time said the allegations were "incorrect and in some instance have been taken completely out of context".
"However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work," he said in a statement.
"I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress."
News broke on Monday that the Daily Telegraph and Moran are appealing Justice Wigney's decision on the basis his conduct "gave rise to an apprehension of bias".
The newspaper says Justice Wigney was wrong to disallow the evidence of co-star Colin Moody and Witness X.
Rush's barrister Sue Chrysanthou on Friday sought an injunction against the publisher arguing its reporting over the past week amounted to a campaign "attacking the vindication my client achieved a month ago".
