Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson has denied mistreating the star of her directorial debut, describing herself as a champion of women in her defence of a blockbuster defamation suit.
The Pitch Perfect star is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the Australian lead actor of the musical comedy The Deb.
MacInnes claims she was defamed by social media posts from Wilson that suggest she is a liar who retracted a sexual harassment complaint to advance her career.
Wilson claims the young actor confided she felt uncomfortable after sharing a bath in swimwear with The Deb co-producer Amanda Ghost following a medical episode in September 2023.
MacInnes denies making the complaint and maintains she told the Bridesmaids star the situation was strange but she didn’t feel personally uncomfortable.
Wilson was in the federal court witness box on Tuesday when she was questioned about a public statement portraying herself as a champion of women.
“Do you still say you regard yourself as a champion of women?” MacInnes’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, asked.
“Yes,” Wilson replied. “If you look over my 25-year career, you can see many evidences [sic] of me supporting women.”
The Hollywood star denied mistreating MacInnes, Ghost or co-writer Hannah Reilly while working with them on the film, labelling accusations of private and public bullying as “absolute nonsense”.
Wilson claimed in an affidavit that she overheard the producer and young star saying intimate things – often of a sexual nature – to each other, which MacInnes has denounced as untrue.
She also rejected Wilson’s account of seeing Ghost push her to go out for a drink together until the young actor relented.
Wilson falsely portrayed herself as a whistleblower who spoke up to protect MacInnes when she was actually using the alleged complaint as leverage in a dispute with her co-producers, Chrysanthou said.
“I was angry that Rebel claims to be someone who stands up for women … but then was so maliciously and unfairly persisting with a narrative that painted me as a liar, prostitute, sell out, and whore,” MacInnes wrote in her affidavit.
Instead of checking on the alleged victim of inappropriate behaviour, Chrysanthou said Wilson shared posts “slagging off” her client.
“This is how this bully, apparently this saviour of women, the protector of the harassed, responds,” she previously told the court.
But Wilson raised her concerns with others even though she had doubts about the veracity of the alleged complaint, her lawyer, Dauid Sibtain SC, said.
The central issue is not whether she was a victim but instead whether she complained to Wilson and then changed her story, he said.
“Our case is that … she changed her story,” Sibtain said in his opening address.
“She did so to ensure her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost.”
Sibtain argued MacInnes’ reputation has not suffered any harm to her reputation at all as a result of the social media posts, contrary to her allegations.
It is likely Wilson will face questioning about MacInnes’ claim that the older actor played a role in a hack on her social media account that led to a nude photo being leaked.
The Hollywood star is also expected to be grilled on whether she was involved in creating malicious websites attacking Ghost that referenced the alleged complaint.
Wilson has been accused of directing a crisis PR team to create the websites but denies any involvement.