Rebel Wilson facing new defamation threat from actor in new film
Charlotte MacInnes, 26, has categorically denied she was the subject of unwanted sexual advances as alleged by Ms Wilson telling media outlets 'there is no truth to the allegations made involving me.'
'Making false accusations undermines real victims and I won't be the subject of a fabricated narrative,'' Ms MacInnes said.
The fracas has already resulted in the producers of her film The Deb suing Ms Wilson over claims she made false and derogatory statements about them engaging in 'inappropriate conduct' towards MacInnes.
The directorial debut has become mired in legal action after Ms Wilson claimed that the Australian actor complained about her treatment during the filming of the musical comedy.
Now the lead actor has fired off a concerns notice after hiring high profile legal team Giles George warning she may sue for defamation.
In Australia, a concerns notice is a formal written document sent to a publisher by someone who believes they have been defamed.
It's the first step in potential defamation proceedings and aims to resolve disputes without court action.
The concerns notice states Rebel Wilson's Instagram posts carried seriously defamatory imputations damaging to Ms MacInnes' personal and professional reputation.
'This was (Charlotte Macinnes') first lead role in a film and you cruelled her professional reputation before she could even enjoy the benefit of the success of the film as the lead actor,'' the concerns notice states.
'The Publications cast Ms MacInnes in a particularly negative light, speaking as they do of her dishonesty and lack of trustworthiness, and being able to be bought corruptly in return for favourable benefits.'
'Ms MacInnes claims general damages, aggravated damages, and costs, as well as a permanent injunction to restrain you from publishing the defamatory imputations about her or anything similar in the future.'
'Ms MacInnes claims the damages were aggravated, in particular, by her knowledge of your conduct in publicly disclosing our client's name as an alleged victim of sexual harassment, without her consent, and then accusing her of lying about it as justification for identifying her.'
How it unfolded
Ms MacInnes was cast as the lead actor in the film The Deb in February 2023 and the film began shooting in October 2023.
The legal concerns notice states that in July, 2024, Ms Wilson posted a video to her Instagram account (@rebelwilson) concerning the co-producers of the film including Amanda Ghost.
'I reported, I guess you would say, their [the co-producers] bad behaviour when I found out. Not minor things, big things, you know, inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actor of the film … so kind of really important things,'' Ms Wilson said.
Ms Ghost is now separately suing Ms Wilson for defamation in the United States.
In September 2024, the concerns notice alleges Ms Wilson posted or caused to be posted a series of 'stories' to her Instagram account reposting part of a media article headlined 'Actress at centre of defamation suit against Rebel Wilson is REVEALED as drama from Australian Star's new film 'The Deb'
After the actor was subsequently cast as Daisy in Florence Welch's musical Gatsby: An American Myt h, Ms Wilson is alleged to have made the following statement on Instagram stories accusing her of 'changing her story.'
'When an actor 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.'
Then in May 2025, Ms Wilson is alleged to have made further claims about the lead actor on social media.
'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,'' Ms Wilson allegedly wrote.
'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.'
Legal threats fly over movie
Last month, a new lawsuit in NSW was also lodged by the 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.
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 actor in the film'.
'In fact, none of the producers had made inappropriate sexual advances to an actor,'' the legal documents state.
'F*ck my life': Rebel Wilson's Insta spray
Last month, Ms Wilson launched an extraordinary spray over the production company suing her for defamation, admitting the first song of her unreleased film, titled F**k My Life, sums up how she feels about her situation.
After news broke that the production company was suing her in Australia over comments on Instagram, Ms Wilson returned to social media to repeat many of the claims that are the subject of the lawsuit.
'So apparently, I'm being sued in Australia?' she said to her 11 million followers on Instagram.
'It makes no sense. As the director, producer and co-star who nurtured a project called The Deb for five years from a three page idea into a gorgeous feature film, I want nothing more than to have this film released, and have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get this to happen.
'To say otherwise is complete nonsense. I'm so proud of the film!'.
Describing the lawsuit as 'baseless' she said that 'many Australians worked so hard on this film, and it's imperative the movie is released!'
'The first song of the film is called F**k My Life. I'm going to release it now, because if these f**kwits aren't going to release the movie, I may as well.'
Ms Wilson then posted a video from the unreleased film, which legal sources suggested could be a breach of copyright.
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.
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.
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