Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson has arrived at the Federal Court in Sydney to give evidence in a high-stakes defamation case brought against her by a star of her directorial debut.
Wilson, 46, is being sued by actor and singer Charlotte MacInnes, 27, over comments posted on Instagram.
MacInnes, a lead actor in Australian musical film The Deb, alleges Wilson defamed her by suggesting she was a “sellout” and a liar who recanted a complaint about one of the film’s producers, Amanda Ghost, in return for further career opportunities with Ghost.
MacInnes told the court last week that she “never made a complaint” to Wilson and “didn’t walk back anything”.
Wilson alleges MacInnes “changed her story” and is seeking to prove that this is true to the civil standard, on the balance of probabilities.
Wilson, who starred in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect, made the comments in Instagram stories between September 2024 and July last year.
She suggested MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” that Ghost “asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable”. MacInnes denies that conversation happened.
Neither woman was named in that Instagram story, but surrounding posts contained identifying information.
There is no dispute that MacInnes and Ghost did share a bath on September 5, 2023, while they were wearing their swimming costumes.
But MacInnes and Ghost say it was in response to a medical episode in which Ghost had a reaction to cold water after swimming at Bondi Beach. At the time, the pair were staying at a rented Bondi apartment, along with Ghost’s assistant, during rehearsals for The Deb.
Ghost’s GP Alison Joy, giving evidence from the United Kingdom last week, said she spoke to her patient by phone after the 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.
Text messages tendered in court reveal that Wilson and Ghost discussed MacInnes shortly after the incident.
“Charlotte says all good. She just meant ‘it was a bizarre situation’ not that she felt personally uncomfortable x,” Wilson texted Ghost on September 7, 2023.
Ghost texted back: “Oh thank f— for that!!” She added “OMG”, “that’s hilarious”, and “I nearly died” in a string of follow-up messages.
But Wilson raised the incident again some weeks later. MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, alleged Wilson raised it as leverage in a commercial dispute rather than out of concern for the young actor, which she denies.
Wilson is now involved in a welter of legal disputes with the film’s co-producers, including Ghost.
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