Final day of Rebel Wilson’s defamation fight

Lawyers for Rebel Wilson and the actor suing her for defamation have returned to the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday for final submissions in the high-stakes fight.

Wilson, 46, is defending a Federal Court defamation suit brought against her by Charlotte MacInnes, 27, a lead actor in Australian musical film The Deb. The film marked Wilson’s directorial debut.

Wilson is facing separate lawsuits in Australia and the US from the international co-producers of The Deb, including Amanda Ghost.

Ghost is a key witness in the defamation case brought by MacInnes. She is also a songwriter, who has co-written hits for international artists including James Blunt (You’re Beautiful).

MacInnes is suing Wilson for suggesting she is a liar and a “sellout” who was “paid off” by Ghost.

Wilson suggested in Instagram stories posted between September 2024 and July last year that MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” during pre-production of The Deb that Ghost “asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable”.

Wilson alleged MacInnes later “changed her story” to secure career opportunities via Ghost including a record deal. MacInnes rejects that claim and says she never made a complaint.

Neither MacInnes nor Ghost was named in the initial story, but it contained identifying information including an image of MacInnes.

There is no dispute Ghost and MacInnes shared a bath on September 5, 2023, while wearing their swimming costumes.

The women 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, they were staying at a rented Bondi apartment with a third woman, Ghost’s assistant Pia Aschcroft, who was head of music at Ghost’s production company Unigram.

Ashcroft was there at the time of the incident, the court has heard, but was not called to give evidence by either side.

The court has heard Wilson called MacInnes on September 7, 2023, before texting Ghost: “Charlotte says all good. She just meant ‘it was a bizarre situation’ not that she felt personally uncomfortable x.”

But Wilson raised the alleged complaint about the bath incident again in October 2023. MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, alleges she did so as “leverage” amid a commercial dispute with the film’s producers rather than to protect a young actor, an allegation Wilson denies.

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