The Bridesmaids star claims an actress retracted a complaint about sexual harassment by a producer.
2 hours ago
Lana LamSydney
Reuters
Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has been accused of making a "complete revision of history" in a defamation case brought against her by a young Australian actress.
Charlotte MacInnes, who stars in Wilson's film The Deb, is suing the Bridesmaids actress for harming her reputation in Instagram posts in 2024 and 2025.
Wilson accused MacInnes of retracting a complaint of sexual harassment by a film producer in exchange for professional favours. MacInnes denies making the complaint.
Over three weeks, the court has heard claims that Wilson ordered a smear website to target the producer, something she denies, and of MacInnes scoring a major record deal months after sharing a bath with the producer.
The incident at the centre of the case happened in September 2023, when MacInnes - who graduated from Western Australian acting academy in 2021 - went for a swim at Bondi Beach with Amanda Ghost, a producer on Wilson's film.
Ghost had an allergic reaction to the cold water, breaking out in red welts and shaking uncontrollably, the court heard, so the pair went back to Ghost's luxury beachside apartment rental to warm up.
Ghost jumped into a shower while MacInnes ran a bath for her. MacInnes got into the bath to warm up, and Ghost joined her shortly after, with both wearing swimsuits.
Ghost's assistant brought hot drinks for the two women while they were in the bath and sat with them briefly.
According to Wilson's affidavit, MacInnes the next day told her that "Amanda asked me to have a bath and shower with her and it made me feel uncomfortable".
"I was shocked by this," Wilson's statement detailed. In it she said she was "very troubled by the idea that something untoward or sexual had happened".
During the case, the court was told that Wilson - concerned about the bath incident - called MacInnes two days later to ask her about it again.
After the call, Wilson sent Ghost a text, which was shown to the court, that read: "Charlotte says all good. She just meant 'it was a bizarre situation' not that she felt personally uncomfortable x."
Earlier in the trial, lawyers for MacInnes said Wilson's claims were "malicious concoctions" and that Wilson was using the incident as "leverage" during contract negotiations by the film's producers for more money.
Wilson was also accused of bullying women who were working on The Deb, a claim the actress labelled as "absolute nonsense".
On Friday, in closing submissions, Sue Chrysanthou SC told the court that Wilson's story was a "complete revision of history" and that it "defies logic" that the bath incident had led to sexual harassment as Ghost was suffering a medical episode.
She said Wilson was a "fantastical liar" who has made up "terrible" allegations. MacInnes is seeking aggravated damages for the harm to her reputation.
But Wilson's lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC told the court that MacInnes's career had not suffered since the social media posts and had, in fact, flourished since the incident.
He argued that MacInnes changed her story so she could receive professional benefits which did later come to fruition, including more acting roles through Ghost and a record deal.
Justice Elizabeth Raper is expected to reserve her decision.
Wilson is currently facing another legal case in Australia and one in the US, both brought by the producers of The Deb, including Ghost.
Even as “China shock 2.0” is roiling Western manufacturers, we must, it seems, brace for “China shock 3.0” – to the global food economy – as President Xi Jinping doubles down on the imperative that has obsessed Beijing for decades: food security. “China’s Food Future”, a consultation paper by System
The tough sentences handed to former defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu showed that Beijing had no tolerance for people with divided loyalties, the Chinese military’s official newspaper said on Friday. The PLA Daily commentary marks the first time an official outlet has accused Li of being
China has confirmed for the first time that it provided on-site technical support to Pakistan during its war with India last year. During the conflict, a Chinese-made fighter shot down at least one of India’s French-made fighters. On Thursday, the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV broadcast an intervie
The “unravelled” post-Cold War international order has created conditions that appear to mirror those preceding a great-power conflict, a former senior adviser to the White House has warned. “The international landscape … [is] beginning to look uncomfortably like a pre-war environment,” said Thomas