Another dispute has been added to the sprawling legal saga surrounding Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb, with the film’s lead actor issuing a notice to Wilson threatening legal action against her in Australia.
Lawyers representing Charlotte MacInnes issued the concerns notice to Rebel Wilson, indicating their intentions to sue for defamation in Western Australia.
The claims of defamation against MacInnes, sent to Wilson on Thursday, centre around several Instagram posts Wilson made about MacInnes’s interactions with one of the film’s producers.
According to the concerns notice, seen by Guardian Australia, Wilson alleged in an July 2024 Instagram video that there had been “inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress of the film”. Wilson went on to publish several Instagram stories alleging that MacInnes had complained to her that she had been sexually harassed during filming.
An Instagram story allegedly published by Wilson said: “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. There is no world where this is acceptable.”
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Wilson allegedly went on to say in the Instagram story that MacInnes had “now changed her story”, saying this was linked to the fact that MacInnes “has been employed now by this ‘producer’ in the lead role of a production … and given a record label”.
In the concerns notice, MacInnes denies making the claims alleged by Wilson, and says the imputations they contain are “false and seriously defamatory” and that Wilson knew them to be false because MacInnes gave a statement to the Daily Mail in September 2024 saying there “was no truth to them”.
Two other disputes are playing out in court – in the US and in New South Wales – relating to the film, which premiered at the Toronto film festival in September but has not been released.
Wilson is being sued for defamation by three of the film’s producers, after the Australian actor made claims to her 11 million Instagram followers that the producers of The Deb had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.
In July 2024, the producers – Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden – filed a defamation suit against Wilson in the US, alleging in court documents filed to the Los Angeles superior court that Wilson fabricated “false and malicious lies” on Instagram in retribution for the producers’ refusal to grant her writing and music credits. In October, Wilson launched a countersuit, repeating many of the allegations she had initially made on social media. The case remains before the court.
A separate complaint was lodged two weeks ago when one of the production companies behind The Deb filed a lawsuit against Wilson in the NSW supreme court, accusing the Pitch Perfect actor of deliberately sabotaging the film’s release, alleging threats and defamatory claims had caused the production company financial and reputational damage.
Wilson said on Instagram the proceedings “made no sense” and she “wanted nothing more than to have the film released and have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this happen”.
In MacInnes’s concerns notice, her lawyers write that by “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”, Wilson engaged in conduct that was “improper, unjustified and lacking in bona fides”.
The concerns notice also alleges harm to MacInnes’s reputation from posts from The Deb’s Instagram account – which MacInnes’s lawyers say Wilson “posted or caused to be posted” – that showed MacInnes performing on Len Blavatnik’s luxury yacht in Cannes.
According to the notice, the posts said MacInnes was “in a culturally inappropriate Indian outfit … 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.”
MacInnes’s lawyers allege that Wilson’s “reputation as a leading Australian star in the international film industry means that [her] statements carry particular weight within the film industry” and that Wilson’s large Instagram following meant claims she made on the platform would have a wide reach.
MacInnes is seeking damages and costs, as well as a permanent injunction on Wilson publishing similar claims about her.
Wilson and her representatives were approached for comment.
