Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
An up-and-coming actor feared Rebel Wilson was “monitoring” her after the Hollywood A-lister accused the young woman of walking back a sexual harassment complaint to further her career, court documents have claimed.
Ms Wilson is being sued by Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, her co-star in her directorial debut The Deb.
The legal battle was sparked after Ms Wilson made a series of social media posts that allegedly implied the younger actor walked back a sexual harassment complaint against one of the film’s producers, Amanda Ghost, to secure a record deal and a lead role in another production.
Ms MacInnes’ boyfriend, Carlo Boumouglbay, says the rising star was “thrilled” to be cast in The Deb and looked forward to working with Ms Wilson, but was left “crying and deeply disturbed” after the Bridesmaids star took to social media.
She feared Ms Wilson was “monitoring” her, Mr Boumouglbay wrote in newly released affidavits tendered to the court.
“She was also fearful because she thought Rebel was monitoring her at all times. She was fearful for her safety and felt vulnerable. Rebel’s posts were really getting to her and breaking her down,” Mr Boumouglbay wrote.
She also felt Ms Wilson was “spinning some type of story” after she was allegedly asked to leave Ms Ghost’s Bondi apartment, where she had been staying along with another member of the film’s team, “because she felt uncomfortable” with the producer.
Mr Boumouglbay wrote his girlfriend was “really confused” and initially thought there may have been a misunderstanding, but grew “suspicious and thought Rebel might be spreading misinformation about her and spinning some type of story”.
“Eventually, she came to think Rebel was twisting the story,” Mr Boumouglbay wrote in his affidavit.
Star suing Rebel scored lucrative record deal: court
The rising star scored a record deal north of $US100,000 after Ms Wilson accused her of walking back the alleged complaint to propel her career, a publicist who looks after pop star Britney Spears told the court during the third day of the star-studded defamation trial.
Ms MacInnes’ publicist Shoshanna Stone — who also looks after music royalty Britney Spears and Shakira — says the rising star secured the record deal around September last year to produce two EPs for Atlantic Records.
Ms MacInnes’ second single for her first EP is due to be released on Thursday, Ms Stone also told the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday.
Ms Stone says she signed Ms MacInnes upon the recommendation of Ms Ghost, telling the court the producer had called her up and spoke of some “very talented” girls she was working on a new movie with that she should consider representing.
She felt Ms MacInnes was a good fit for her company, telling the court “I looked into it … and we took it from there”.
The lucrative record deal was made about a year after Ms Wilson took to social media, with the posts described as being an “an all-consuming nightmarish force” in Ms MacInnes’ life in an affidavit written by Hannah Reilly, the co-writer of The Deb’s stage production which Ms MacInnes acted in before being cast for the film.
The 26-year-old was left suffering nightmares and panic attacks after the posts, Ms Reilly alleged in her affidavit.
Ms Wilson admits to making some of the social media posts but denies they carry the defamatory meaning alleged by Ms MacInnes.
Ms MacInnes is expected to step into the witness box on Wednesday afternoon.
The alleged complaint stems from a bath Ms MacInnes took with Ms Ghost at the producer’s penthouse apartment in Bondi after she allegedly suffered a medical episode following a sunset swim at Bondi Beach.
They were both wearing swimmers during the bath.
Ms Wilson says the younger actor told her the bath incident had made her uncomfortable, but Ms MacInnes denies doing so.
The Australian A-lister claims Ms MacInnes lied in a bid to propel her career.
The trial continues.
