{"id":558083,"date":"2026-07-24T22:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/558083\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:25:08","slug":"rebel-wilson-had-a-legal-win-but-didnt-come-out-of-the-deb-defamation-trial-unscathed-rebel-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/558083\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebel Wilson had a legal win but didn\u2019t come out of The Deb defamation trial unscathed | Rebel Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebel Wilson\u2019s self-styled brand as a truth teller was put to the test during a fiery defamation feud where rivals called her a bully.<\/p>\n

But the Hollywood A-lister, referred to as \u201cvery difficult to be around\u201d and \u201cfucking nuts\u201d during an at-times bruising trial, emerged from the federal court battle with the last laugh<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pitch Perfect star came under fire while being sued by the Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson\u2019s directorial debut film The Deb.<\/p>\n

MacInnes claimed she was defamed by Wilson in four social media posts implying she was a liar and a sellout who walked back a sexual harassment complaint to further her career.<\/p>\n

Wilson wrote the young actor confided \u2013 and later recanted \u2013 she felt uncomfortable when the film\u2019s co-producer Amanda Ghost asked to have a shower and a bath together.<\/p>\n

MacInnes denied making a complaint, insisting she had not been uncomfortable when the pair shared a bath in their swimwear after Ghost suffered a medical episode in September 2023.<\/p>\n

Charlotte MacInnes during a break in the trial in April. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAP<\/p>\n

But in her ruling handed down on Wednesday, Justice Elizabeth Raper found evidence established MacInnes did make a complaint about feeling uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

The young actor then walked it back, at least partially because she was concerned about losing control of the situation and wanted to contain it, the judge determined.<\/p>\n

She ruled none of the four social media posts were defamatory in a comprehensive win for Wilson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a long process and throughout I have tried to stay grounded in my values and what I believed was right,\u201d Wilson wrote upon her victory. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that process has now reached its conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the Bridesmaids star did not escape the hotly contested trial without wounds.<\/p>\n

For all Wilson\u2019s protestations that she was known as a truth teller, Raper found the actor\u2019s testimony had been untruthful on occasion, self-serving at times and punctuated with exaggeration.<\/p>\n

MacInnes\u2019s claims the first-time director would be believed because of her status in the entertainment industry were dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my impression from all the evidence Ms Wilson is known for being outspoken but not necessarily reliable,\u201d Raper wrote.<\/p>\n

MacInnes faced the same scrutiny, with the judge finding she had been less than frank at times and combative when asked to accept reasonable suggestions.<\/p>\n

She determined the young actor gave multiple inconsistent accounts of what happened in the Bondi apartment after the medical episode, as had Ghost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have serious misgivings as to the truthfulness of the testimony of each of Ms MacInnes, Ms Ghost and Ms Wilson,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

The scathing assessments may have MacInnes questioning why she sued her famous co-star.<\/p>\n

But the defamation law expert Prof David Rolph said the case highlighted the risk of defamation litigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who sue for defamation or become involved in defamation cases don\u2019t know and can\u2019t control what\u2019s going to come out in court,\u201d the University of Sydney law professor said. \u201cOnce you start, it\u2019s difficult to control and it\u2019s difficult to stop what may be said about you in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

That became abundantly clear for Wilson, who was labelled a bully and a liar<\/a> during the weeks-long hearing.<\/p>\n

The Deb director denied the claims, labelling accusations of private and public bullying as nonsense and insisting she had been a champion of women throughout her 25-year career.<\/p>\n

Raper noted she maintained her composure while being repeatedly charged with lying and fabricating evidence during her two-day cross-examination.<\/p>\n

The accusations included that Wilson lied about having no involvement in the creation of smear websites attacking Ghost as the \u201cIndian Ghislaine Maxwell\u201d and a sex trafficker.<\/p>\n

Amanda Ghost arrives at the federal court in Sydney during the trial. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAP<\/p>\n

Raper made no determination of the contentious websites that loomed large during the trial, nor MacInnes\u2019s allegation that Wilson was involved in a hack that resulted in a nude photo of hers being leaked.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the judge found, even if one of the posts had been defamatory, she could not be satisfied MacInnes had shown that she suffered serious harm.<\/p>\n

The four posts had been visible to Wilson\u2019s 11 million followers for 24 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ordinary reasonable reader would have scrolled through the post relatively quickly and his or her reaction would have been impressionistic and fleeting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The threshold of serious harm is a relatively new requirement yet to be tested in the country\u2019s highest court, Rolph noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe courts haven\u2019t yet worked out precisely how to approach this issue and what\u2019s required of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t surprise me if a ground of appeal is raised in relation to serious harm because of the novelty of the issues and the novelty of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacInnes indicated her intention to appeal against the decision, which has left her holding a hefty bill for the costs incurred by Wilson during the legal fight.<\/p>\n

Rolph suggested such a high-profile loss may have a chilling effect on others considering litigation.<\/p>\n

With a possible appeal looming, neither Wilson nor MacInnes can be said to have escaped without a scratch.<\/p>\n

The actors began their relationship full of mutual admiration, working together on a film that was to elevate both of their careers.<\/p>\n

But ended it on opposite sides of a stale Sydney courtroom, slinging accusations of lying and greed.<\/p>\n

As Wilson wrote in her affidavit to the court: \u201cUnfortunately, what started as a dream has turned out to be a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rebel Wilson\u2019s self-styled brand as a truth teller was put to the test during a fiery defamation feud…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-558083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}