Rebel Wilson accused of false allegations in new lawsuit
Just a year after she faced legal threats over her memoir Rebel Rising and was forced to redact an entire chapter containing claims about Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen, a new legal battle has erupted.
The new lawsuit lodged in the NSW Supreme Court by the production company behind her directorial debut The Deb is alleging serious breaches of contract and director's duties, misleading and deceptive conduct, and injurious falsehood.
Ms Wilson was sued for defamation in the United States last year by producers Amanda Ghost, Gregory Cameron and Vince Holden who allege she falsely claimed they had embezzled funds from the movie and had behaved with 'absolute viciousness and retaliatory behaviour'. That matter is ongoing.
The new lawsuit in NSW has been lodged by Mr Holden's production company A.I. Film and is being handled by an Australian-based legal team – Patrick George, Jeremy Marel and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC.
It accuses Ms Wilson of blocking the film's release though legal threats and making false claims that the lead actor in the film, Charlotte MacInnes, was the target of 'inappropriate conduct'.
In the new legal submissions, A.I.'s legal team insist that Ms MacInnes denies she was ever harassed, and states that Ms Wilson's claims are baseless.
The blow up follows a video Rebel Wilson posted on Instagram in July 2024, where she made a number of misconduct claims about the movie producers to her 11 million followers.
'[T]o have the business partners that are involved in that movie turn around and say that no, the movie can't premiere, is just beyond devastating,'' she said.
'And so I said, reported, I guess you would say, their bad behaviour when I found out not minor things, big things, you know, inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress of the film, embezzling funds from the film's budget, which we really needed because we're a small movie, you know? So kind of really important things. Since I reported that behaviour, I have been met with absolute viciousness and retaliatory behaviour.
'And yet every step of the way, these people who I complained about then tried to make my life hell.
'And this behaviour is absolutely vile and disgusting. Now these people you know, Amanda Ghost in particular, has a history of doing this kind of thing, mainly to music artists but also to people in the film business. So, the thing is, these people are forced to sign NDAs or, you know, otherwise threatened or bullied to not speak out.
'I will speak the truth, and, you know, warn people about these people in the industry. Who are just not behaving ethically ... if the movie doesn't play in Toronto, it's because of these absolute f**kwits.'
Ms Ghost is now suing Ms Wilson for defamation in the United States.
In the NSW lawsuit, the production company's legal team argued these statements conveyed that one of the producers had made 'inappropriate sexual advances to an actress in the film'.
'In fact, none of the producers had made inappropriate sexual advances to an actress,'' the legal documents state.
The lawsuit alleged Ms McInnes categorically denied Ms Wilson's claims telling media outlets 'there is no truth to the allegations made involving me.'
'I love this film and I can't wait for it to be released. It would be wonderful if these proceedings can help make that happen,'' she said in a statement to news.com.au.
She previously told media outlets: 'Making false accusations undermines real victims and I won't be the subject of a fabricated narrative.'
After the actress was subsequently cast as Daisy in Florence Welch's musical Gatsby: An American Myth, Ms Wilson is alleged to have made the following statement on Instagram stories accusing her of 'changing her story.'
'When an actress on her first feature film is asked by a producer to stay in the same apartment as them, and then makes a complaint to me as the director saying said producer 'asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable' – what am I supposed to do of course I reported it,'' Ms Wilson said.
'There is no world where this is acceptable. The fact that this girl has been employed now by this 'producer' in the lead role of a production called GATSBY (ART Boston) and given a record label – should be all the proof you need as to why she has now changed her story.'
During the Cannes Film Festival, Ms Wilson allegedly posted more Instagram stories, suggesting MacInnes had 'lied by denying the allegations of sexual misconduct by the film's UK producers'.
'Charlotte MacInnes in a culturally inappropriate Indian outfit on Len Blavatnik's luxury yacht in Cannes – ironically singing a song from a movie that will never get released because of her lies and support for the people blocking the film's release. So glad you got your record deal Charlotte at the expense of the 300 people who worked on The Deb and really wanna see it released.'
In the new lawsuit, it is alleged Ms Wilson 'threatened the Australian distributor of the film that she would obtain an injunction to prevent its release, when the contractual documents plainly prevented her from obtaining an injunction.'
No stranger to defamation battles, Ms Wilson won a record payout from Bauer media but was later forced to repay the majority of her record defamation payout from a magazine publisher.
Ms Wilson had received A$4.7m in damages and interest from Bauer Media over articles that she said portrayed her as a serial liar.
But a court reduced the sum to A$600,000 following an appeal by the publisher.
She was then ordered to pay back A$4.1m and A$60,000 in interest.
A subsequent bid to have an appeal heard in the High Court of Australia was rejected, bringing her legal battle 'to a definitive end'.
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