John Jarratt withdraws defamation action

Wolf Creek star John Jarratt, who was acquitted of raping a Sydney housemate in 1976, has abandoned his defamation lawsuit against The Daily Telegraph.

The 66-year-old actor was found not guilty by a District Court jury in July after a week-long trial.

He testified he had consensual sex with the woman and only learned of her allegation in November 2017 when he saw a front page story on The Daily Telegraph headlined "Wolf Creek star in rape claim".

His defamation action against the newspaper and reporter Jonathon Moran was launched in the NSW Supreme Court in November 2018.

Days after the verdict, Jarratt's lawyer, Chris Murphy, said on Twitter the statement of claim was filed at that time pending resolution of the police charge.

Documents were then to be served on the defendants, and the matter was due to be mentioned in the Supreme Court on Friday.

But a court media spokesperson said the actor filed a notice of discontinuance on August 9.