Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
A nude photo leak, a series of smear sites, and a “fan club” dedicated to hating the producer at the centre of Rebel Wilson’s lawsuit have taken centre stage in the Hollywood actor’s star-studded defamation trial.
Ms Wilson has maintained that she is a “truth teller” as she battles allegations in court that she is a “bully” who took to “slagging off” Charlotte MacInnes, the star of her directorial debut film The Deb in a series of social media poststhe young actor is now suing her over.
Ms Wilson, who travelled from the US to attend her trial, was stopped by a group of year 12s as she made her way to the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday morning.
She was all smiles as she posed for selfies with the students before she headed into court for the final day of her nine-day trial before Justice Elizabeth Raper.
The Pitch Perfect actor claims Ms MacInnes told her that she felt uncomfortable following a bath she and one of the film’s producers, Amanda Ghost, shared while wearing swimmers to warm up after the producer suffered a medical episode at Bondi Beach in September 2023.
Ms Wilson in court described the alleged complaint as the “worst thing that could have fallen into my lap” just weeks out from shooting her “girl power movie”.
Ms Wilson alleges the younger actor later withdrew the complaint, while Ms MacInnes denies ever making one.
The Hollywood star then took to social media, with Ms MacInnes now suing her over a series of posts she alleges implies that she walked back a sexual harassment complaint against Ms Ghost to score a lucrative record deal and a role in another of Ms Ghost’s productions.
Ms MacInnes had once “looked up” to Ms Wilson and felt her dreams of success were coming true after she was cast in the film but was soon left having “nightmares” in the wake of the posts, according to court documents.
“I was also angry that Rebel claims to be someone who stands up for women and young Australian talent but then was so maliciously and unfairly persisting with a narrative that painted me as a liar, prostitute, sell out, and whore,” Ms MacInnes wrote in her affidavits.
Ms MacInnes’ voice broke as she told the trial that her co-star was “very difficult to be around” following the alleged complaint.
The young actor also claims in her affidavits that Ms Wilson orchestrated the hacking of Ms MacInnes’ Snapchat account that led to the leaking of a nude photograph of her, an allegation Ms Wilson told the court she was “obviously not” behind.
The A-Lister was described as “f**king nuts” in text messages from the crisis PR firm she is accused of ordering to create “take down” websites about Ms Ghost, with the court hearing one of the sites posted unfounded allegations that the producer was the “Indian Ghislaine Maxwell”.
Ms Wilson has denied any involvement in the smear sites.
She told the court on Wednesday that a “fan club” dedicated to hating on Ms Ghost sent her information about the producer and Ms MacInnes.
“There’s a group of people that are called the ‘I hate Amanda Ghost fan club’ and they send me … (and) my wife information,” Ms Wilson told the court, adding that she is not a member of the “club”.
She maintained she still regards herself as “a champion of women” and denied ever mistreating or “bullying” Ms MacInnes and Ms Ghost.
“I think if you look across my 25-year career you can see many evidences of me supporting women,” Ms Wilson said.
The nine-day trial is due to end on Friday afternoon.
