Rebel Wilson has appeared in Federal Court in Sydney as a major defamation trial over her film The Deb gets underway.
Perth‑raised actor Charlotte MacInnes, 25, is suing Wilson over Instagram Stories she claims implied she first complained of being sexually harassed during production in 2023, then “changed her story” to help her career. Wilson rejects that, saying she was passing on a workplace complaint MacInnes allegedly made to her the day after the bath.
In court, MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC described it as a “malignant allegation” that her client “sold the allegation of sexual harassment in exchange for her own commercial and professional benefit”.
The court heard that on September 5 2023, British producer Amanda Ghost and MacInnes got into a warm bath at a Bondi penthouse after a cold ocean swim, both wearing swimmers and, according to MacInnes, with no touching. They were seen in the bath drinking chamomile tea and hot chocolate by a third person in the apartment, Pia Ashcroft, the court was told.
Wilson’s team say as part of her defence that a day later, at a Surry Hills recording studio, MacInnes told her she felt sexually harassed by what happened in the bath.
“Frankly, a boss taking a bath with a young employee regardless of the circumstances is not the best workplace practice, even if as Ms Ghost contends she was recovering from a medical (episode),” Wilson’s barrister Dauid Sibtain told the court per The Nightly.
He said “our case is that it’s true she (Ms MacInnes) changed her story”, arguing she later denied complaining “to ensure that her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost”.
Those claims later appeared in Wilson’s Instagram Stories to her 11 million followers. “When an actor on her first 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?’,” she wrote in one post, later cited in court documents.
Chrysanthou told the court her client alleges that Wilson only went public on Instagram after falling out with The Deb’s producers over writing credits and financing.
Outside the court, Wilson briefly spoke about the movie rather than the case, telling media, “I love the movie – The Deb is so cute and amazing,” and thanking people who are “going to the cinemas”.
The musical comedy, set around a debutante ball in rural New South Wales, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024 and finally opened in Australian cinemas on April 9 after lengthy legal delays, drawing reviews ranging from “joyous” and “filthy, fun, but most of all moving” to more mixed views that “many moments fall flat”.
The hearing before Justice Elizabeth Raper is expected to run for about nine days, with both Wilson and MacInnes due to give evidence.
MacInnes is seeking aggravated damages and an order stopping Wilson from repeating the claims, while Wilson maintains she was responding to what she believed was a genuine complaint and says not all of the posts were about MacInnes.
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