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Rebel Wilson has been accused of a “complete revision of history” as she defends a high-stakes defamation case.
Wilson, 46, is being sued in the Federal Court by Charlotte MacInnes, 27, a lead actor in the Australian musical film The Deb. The film marked Wilson’s directorial debut.
Lawyers for the parties returned to the court in Sydney on Friday to deliver final submissions.
MacInnes alleges Wilson portrayed her in posts on Instagram as a liar and a “sellout” who was “paid off” by a producer on The Deb, Amanda Ghost.
They were “terrible” and “lurid” allegations, MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, told the court on Friday.
She said Wilson had drawn MacInnes “into the spotlight” and “maligned and abused and lied about” her.
Any sum of damages awarded needed to leave the public “in no doubt” that MacInnes had been vindicated, Chrysanthou said.
Chrysanthou described Wilson during her submissions as a “fantastical liar who has made up terrible, terrible allegations”.
Wilson is facing separate lawsuits in Australia and the US brought by the film’s international co-producers, including Ghost.
Ghost is a key witness in the defamation case brought by MacInnes. She is also a songwriter who has co-written hits for international artists, including James Blunt (You’re Beautiful).
Wilson suggested in Instagram stories posted between September 2024 and July last year that MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” during pre-production of The Deb that Ghost “asked her 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 never made a complaint.
Neither MacInnes nor Ghost was named in the initial Instagram story, but it contained identifying information, including an image of MacInnes.
Chrysanthou alleged on Friday that Wilson had engaged in a “complete revision of history” during her evidence in court, and that “she never received such a complaint”.
She accused Wilson of claiming there had been a complaint “to cause division between Ms Ghost and Ms MacInnes”, an allegation Wilson has denied.
Chrysanthou said it “defies logic” that MacInnes would have told Wilson about feeling uncomfortable and not mentioned it to her mother, boyfriend or friend, all of whom gave evidence.
There is no dispute Ghost and MacInnes shared a bath on September 5, 2023, while wearing their swimming costumes.
The women 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, they were staying at a rented Bondi apartment with a third woman, Ghost’s assistant Pia Aschcroft, who was head of music at Ghost’s production company Unigram.
Ashcroft was there at the time of the incident, the court has heard, but was not called to give evidence by either side.
The court has 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. Chrysanthou alleges 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.
The hearing continues.
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