Young actor speaks in high-stakes legal battle with Rebel Wilson

The young actor suing Rebel Wilson for defamation has told the Federal Court she feels “numb” reading abusive comments from strangers on social media amid her court fight with the Hollywood star.

Charlotte MacInnes, who plays the lead role in Australian musical film The Deb, directed and co-produced by Wilson, is suing Wilson for defamation over a series of social media posts. The trial started in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.

The film’s release was delayed because of a tangle of lawsuits in Australia and the US.

At the start of her evidence on Wednesday, MacInnes was asked about a message she said she had received on Instagram “this morning” from a stranger, and a number of social media comments.

Her barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, asked how she felt after reading those comments, which were tendered in court but not read aloud.

The singer and actor replied: “Pretty awful, but to be completely honest, I have received quite a few of these messages over the last couple of years, so I am somewhat numb to these now.”

MacInnes will return to the witness box on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, MacInnes’ boyfriend, actor Carlo Boumouglbay, said in an affidavit filed in court that MacInnes became “fearful” following social media posts by Wilson in September 2024 and May last year “because she thought Rebel was monitoring her at all times”.

“Rebel’s posts were really getting to her and breaking her down,” he said.

The Instagram stories

At the centre of the costly defamation battle is a series of four Instagram stories posted by Wilson between September 2024 and May last year.

Wilson alleged in one of the stories that MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” that a producer of The Deb, Amanda Ghost, “asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her
feel uncomfortable”. MacInnes denies that conversation happened.

While Wilson did not refer to MacInnes by name in that post, she gave other identifying information and named the actor in separate posts.

Wilson also alleged on Instagram that the young actor later “changed her story”. The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star implied MacInnes recanted the complaint in return for further career opportunities with Ghost.

Lawyers for MacInnes say in court documents that their client “did not make ‘a complaint’ to Wilson … as alleged” in the posts. They say Wilson defamed MacInnes by suggesting the rising star lied and changed her story to advance her career.

At the time of the alleged complaint in 2023, MacInnes was staying with Ghost at a rented Bondi Beach penthouse apartment during rehearsals for the film. Pia Ashcroft, then an assistant to Ghost, was also staying there. Other members of the cast and crew had accommodation in Zetland.

The Bondi incident

Chrysanthou said in her opening address to the court on Monday that the incident leading to the alleged complaint was a response to a medical episode.

MacInnes and Ghost had gone for a swim at Bondi on September 5, 2023, and Ghost “broke out in red welts and was shaking uncontrollably”, Chrysanthou said.

Chrysanthou said MacInnes helped Ghost back to the apartment and the producer got into the shower in her swimmers while MacInnes got into the bath, also wearing her swimmers.

“Ms Ghost, still not warm enough, got into the bath, and it was an oversized bath. Ms MacInnes and Ms Ghost were not even touching at all. They both were wearing their swimmers the entire time.

“Pia Ashcroft made hot drinks and the women sat around drinking them.”

In a later text to MacInnes, the producer said she had been suffering from a condition called cold urticaria.

MacInnes’ boyfriend, Boumouglbay, said in his affidavit that “it was horrible for Charlotte that Rebel was lying about her being a victim.

“This was an awful thing for her to lie about and it made absolutely no sense to Charlotte or to me.”

He said MacInnes had called him on the evening of the Bondi incident and “said words to the effect that she and Amanda had gone for a swim at the beach and Amanda had had a bad reaction to the cold water”.

“Charlotte told me that they both ended up in a huge bath to warm up.

“She said Pia Ashcroft was also present. She told me that Rebel Wilson was also on the phone at some stage. Charlotte was completely calm when recounting these events to me.

“She never once suggested anything about being uncomfortable.”

He said in a second affidavit that MacInnes later became suspicious “and thought Rebel might be spreading misinformation about her and spinning some type of story”.

“Eventually, she came to think Rebel was twisting the story,” he said.

Chrysanthou alleged in her opening address to the court that Wilson “was not a whistleblower … seeking to protect a young actress” and had only claimed when it “suited” her that MacInnes was “a victim”.

Wilson has denied making the claims to further her commercial interests amid a dispute with the film’s co-producers.

Ghost’s GP Alison Joy, giving evidence from the United Kingdom on Wednesday, said she spoke to her patient by phone after the Bondi incident. She said she told Ghost “she didn’t need to go to hospital” but to increase her dosage of a medication she was taking for another condition.

Justice Elizabeth Raper clarified the parties were not asking the court determine whether there was, in fact, a medical episode, but whether there was “a belief” by Ghost and MacInnes that this had occurred.

Wilson’s defence

Wilson’s barrister, Dauid Sibtain, SC, said on Monday that this was “not a case about whether Ms MacInnes was or was not the subject of sexual harassment or other inappropriate conduct”.

He said the central issue was whether MacInnes made a complaint to Wilson about Ghost and then changed her story. “Our case is that … she changed her story,” he said.

The trial continues.

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