A judge in the Federal Court has found Australian actor and director Rebel Wilson not liable in the defamation against her.
The case was brought by actor Charlotte MacInnes, who appears in Wilson’s directorial debut ‘The Deb’.
MacInnes alleged Wilson defamed her in social media posts claiming the young actor made a sexual harassment complaint during filming, and then later retracted it to further her career.
While delivering her judgment, Justice Elizabeth Raper said she had found it to be “substantially true” that MacInnes had “changed her story”.
The people
Rebel Wilson: Aussie actress known for the Pitch Perfect trilogy. The Deb is her directorial debut. In this case, she is the defendant, accused of defaming...
Charlotte MacInnes: a 28-year-old West Australian singer and actor who plays a leading role in The Deb. MacInnes brought the case, arguing her professional reputation was seriously damaged when Wilson publicly identified her as a victim of sexual harassment, without her knowledge or consent. Then there’s...
Amanda Ghost: a British music producer and executive, one of the producers on The Deb. Ghost is not a party to this particular case, but she is central to it: Wilson’s allegations about Ghost’s conduct toward MacInnes are what sparked the dispute. Ghost denies wrongdoing.
Incident
On 5 September 2023, Ghost became unwell after a swim at Bondi Beach. MacInnes helped her back to a nearby apartment, where the two warmed up by bathing together in their swimmers.
Both Wilson and MacInnes agree the incident happened. What they disagreed on is what was said about it afterwards.
Wilson claims MacInnes came to her to tell her the bath incident made her uncomfortable. MacInnes denies this.
In July 2024, Wilson posted a video to her millions of Instagram followers accusing the film’s producers of “inappropriate behaviour towards
the lead actress.”
MacInnes immediately and publicly rejected the claims, saying no such complaint had ever been made.
Wilson went on to make several more public posts on the topic.
Lawsuit
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MacInnes ultimately sued Wilson for defamation in the Federal Court.
Her argument was that Wilson publicly identified her as a victim of sexual harassment, harming her professional reputation before she could benefit from her first lead film role.
The lawsuit covered four Instagram posts in total, including one from September 2024 in which Wilson claimed MacInnes had “changed her story” after Ghost cast her in a stage production of The Great Gatsby and helped her get a record deal.
Under Australian law, defamation is when published material damages someone’s reputation.
It’s a civil matter, which means no jail time, only financial penalties.
Wilson’s defence was that what she had posted was accurate.
During the trial, Wilson testified that the bath incident and subsequent complaint was “an absolute nightmare situation” for a “first-time director making a movie that is essentially a girl-power movie.”
Ruling
The court found MacInnes had failed to prove that Wilson’s actions had caused significant harm to her reputation.
She also found, based on the evidence, that it was “substantially true” that MacInnes changed her story about feeling uncomfortable in the bathroom.
However, the judge also noted that she had “serious misgivings as to the truthfulness of the testimony of each of Ms MacInnes, Ms Ghost and Ms Wilson.”
Responses
Wilson posted to Instagram shortly after the judgment, saying: “Thank you to the Judge and the Australian legal system who I have the utmost respect for.”
MacInnes and Ghost have not publicly responded to the ruling at the time of posting.
It is not clear yet whether the case will be appealed.
