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Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson will learn today if she has successfully defended a high-stakes defamation case or will be ordered to pay thousands of dollars in damages to one of the stars of her directorial debut.
Federal Court Justice Elizabeth Raper will deliver her decision in the costly lawsuit at 2.15pm in Sydney.
Rebel Wilson outside the Federal Court in Sydney in April.Sitthixay DitthavongCharlotte MacInnes, 28, a lead actor in The Deb, launched the defamation case against Wilson last year over a series of Instagram stories. Wilson appeared on-screen in the Australian musical film as well as serving as director and one of the film’s producers.
MacInnes alleged Wilson, 46, portrayed her on Instagram as a liar and a “sellout” who was “paid off” by a producer on The Deb, Amanda Ghost, to recant a sexual harassment complaint against Ghost.
Ghost was a key witness in the defamation case. She is also a songwriter who has co-written hits for international artists, including James Blunt (You’re Beautiful).
Charlotte MacInnes outside the Federal Court in April.Sitthixay DitthavongIn written evidence filed in court, Ghost said she was “not, and have never been, sexually interested in women”.
Wilson suggested in the Instagram stories, posted between September 2024 and July last year, that MacInnes made a complaint to her as director during pre-production of The Deb that Ghost asked MacInnes “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 did not make a complaint.
Neither MacInnes nor Ghost was named in the initial Instagram 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. They 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 with a third woman, Ghost’s assistant Pia Ashcroft, who was head of music at Ghost’s production company Unigram.
Ashcroft was at the apartment at the time of the incident, the court has heard, but was not called to give evidence by either side.
The court 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, alleged 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.
Wilson is facing separate lawsuits in Australia and the US brought by the film’s international co-producers, including Ghost.
Dauid Sibtain, SC, acting for Wilson, said during the trial that the central issue was “whether Ms MacInnes reported to Ms Wilson that she’d been asked by Ms Ghost to … bathe with her and whether she said it made her feel uncomfortable, and whether she later changed her story by denying that she’d made such a complaint”.
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Michaela Whitbourn is a legal affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
Garry Maddox is a Senior Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.