Judy Davis sues newspaper for defamation

updated 6:42 p.m. ET May 6, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia - Judy Davis told an Australian court Tuesday that she stopped attending her daughter’s soccer games out of anguish over newspaper articles she claims suggested she hates children.

The 53-year-old two-time Academy Award nominee, who’s also won Golden Globe and Emmy awards, is suing News Corp. subsidiary Nationwide News for defamation over articles published in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper in February 2006 about her behavior at a local council meeting.

She has not quantified the damages that she’s seeking.

The articles were about Davis’ opposition to a council plan to install floodlights for children’s soccer training at a park near her Sydney home. The newspaper said she stormed out of a council meeting where the plan was being discussed after an argument with council officials.

Davis claims the articles implied she hated children.

During almost four hours on the witness stand in the New South Wales state Supreme Court on Tuesday, Davis said her image was tarnished by the newspaper and she was concerned it would affect her 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte.

The actress, who got Oscar nominations as best actress for her performance in 1984’s “A Passage to India” and for best supporting actress for 1992’s “Husbands and Wives,” said she was so worried that she stopped attending her daughter’s soccer games.

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“The parents of the girls in her class might not want her to play with them because her mother doesn’t like children,” Davis told the court.

“And maybe the soccer team that she’s just joined ... might not want her in the team,” she added. “They’re very big things in a young girl’s life.”

The hearing continues Wednesday.

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