The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has ruled that actress Amelia Henderson must pay RM10,000 in damages to film and drama producer A.Aida for violating the filming contract of a drama series called ‘Sekali Lagi Cinta Kembali’. The decision was made by judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong after Amelia’s successful appeal against the Session Court’s previous decision, which had ordered her to pay over RM200,000 in damages to A.Aida Production Sdn Bhd. Within 14 days of the ruling, Amelia, whose real name is Ameila Thripura Henderson, must pay a nominal compensation of RM10,000.
The court stated, “The appeal by the appellant (Amelia) is allowed, and the decision of the Sessions Court is set aside. Therefore, A. Aida Production Sdn Bhd is only entitled to receive a nominal compensation of RM10,000 for the breach of contract, taking into account that the appellant has already received an advance payment of RM3,920.” The decision was announced online by Leong on Friday.
Leong clarified that the court was satisfied that Amelia’s remarks in her Instagram video were not defamatory towards A. Aida Production Sdn Bhd, which is owned by A. Aida, also known as Datuk Zaidah Awang. He explained, “The Sessions Court’s decision that Amelia had defamed the company is wrong. After thoroughly examining Amelia’s statements, I found that her views were simply a statement that the script of the drama was not suitable for her and that her role as ‘Aira’ would damage her reputation.”
The legal representation during the online proceedings consisted of Mansheel Kaur and Wan Nurliyana Abdul Rahman acting on behalf of Amelia, who has a mixed Scottish and Malaysian Indian background. Meanwhile, Ashmadi Othman, Bushro Anuar, and Lukman Haqeem represented the production company.
In the lawsuit filed on July 28 last year, A. Aida Production accused Amelia of breaching the contract when she withdrew from filming the drama at the last minute. According to the plaintiff’s statement, Amelia had already received an initial payment of RM3,920 after signing the contract and agreeing to fully commit to the filming of the drama. However, the company claimed that Amelia decided to withdraw despite negotiations, leading to the issuance of a contract termination notice.
The case was covered by Bernama, the national news agency of Malaysia.
