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Hollywood star Rebel Wilson told a young actor she had been “terribly rude” in text messages revealed in court during a high-stakes defamation fight.
Charlotte MacInnes, who plays the lead role in Australian musical film The Deb, directed and co-produced by Wilson, is suing the Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids actor for defamation over a series of social media posts. The trial started in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.
Text messages shown in court on Thursday reveal some tension in May 2023 between the two performers at the start of their working relationship.
The court heard Wilson had secured a ticket for MacInnes to watch the production Oklahoma! at Wyndham’s Theatre on London’s West End with her and some cast mates but MacInnes texted Wilson after the event to offer “huge apologies” because she “lost track of time”.
MacInnes said she had “[ended] up eating with Amanda” Ghost, a producer of The Deb who has emerged as a central figure in the defamation case, and Ghost’s assistant Pia Ashcroft.
‘Not a great start’
“Hi Charlotte. I appreciate the apology. In the future, it is terribly rude to say you wanted a ticket to a show and then you don’t reply or follow up knowing a ticket has been purchased for you,” Wilson replied.
“It’s not a great start to our working relationship.”
MacInnes responded: “Completely understand. Again, hugely sorry for my poor communication. I’d love to send you the money for the ticket as you stuck to your word and got an available ticket.”
She said Wilson had been “nothing short of wonderful” and she and others “deserve the same respect and communication”.
Wilson’s barrister, Dauid Sibtain, SC, put to MacInnes that she was “quite happy to effectively ditch your other co-lead actresses and the director [Wilson] for the possibility of another one-on-one meeting with Ms Ghost”. MacInnes disagreed.
The lawsuit
More than two years later, in September 2025, MacInnes launched a Federal Court defamation suit against Wilson over a series of four Instagram stories, posted between September 2024 and May last year, that made claims about the young star and Ghost.
Wilson alleged in one of the stories that MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” that Ghost “asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable”. MacInnes denies that conversation happened. Neither woman was named in that story, but surrounding posts contained identifying information.
MacInnes’ boyfriend, actor Carlo Boumouglbay, is among supporters who have told the court the posts took a huge toll on MacInnes.
“It was horrible for Charlotte that Rebel was lying about her being a victim,” he said in an affidavit.
At the time of the alleged complaint in September 2023, MacInnes was living with Ghost and the producer’s assistant at a rented Bondi penthouse apartment during rehearsals for The Deb.
MacInnes is not suing for defamation over Wilson’s allegation that she made a complaint, but a further allegation by Wilson that she recanted the alleged complaint in return for further career opportunities allegedly set up by Ghost, namely a lead role in a stage production and a record label.
MacInnes gave evidence on Thursday that the incident involving the bath, on September 5, 2023, was a medical episode. Ghost had a reaction to the cold water after swimming with MacInnes at Bondi Beach and the actor assisted the producer to warm up, she said. At one stage both women, wearing their swimmers, shared a bath.
Sibtain put to MacInnes that it was a “pretty regular-sized bath”, and tendered a photo of the bathroom in the Campbell Parade penthouse.
“I’d describe it as a large bath,” MacInnes said.
The actor gave evidence she went for another swim with Ghost “the day after, or two days after” the incident, but said “Amanda did not have a reaction that next swim, though”.
MacInnes agreed under questioning by Sibtain that she ran a bath for Ghost to warm up.
“She got in the bath first, and then you got in the bath,” Sibtain said.
“No,” MacInnes replied.
“And the reason you got in the bath was because she invited you to get in the bath,” Sitbain said.
“No,” MacInnes said.
Wilson ‘not a whistleblower’
MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, alleged in her opening address to the court that Wilson “was not a whistleblower … seeking to protect a young actress” and had only claimed when it “suited” her that MacInnes was “a victim”.
MacInnes “did not make ‘a complaint’ to Wilson … as alleged” in the posts, her legal team says in court documents.
Wilson has denied making the claims to further her commercial interests amid a dispute with the film’s co-producers, including Ghost.
The Hollywood actor is seeking to rely chiefly on the defence of truth.
MacInnes rejected Sibtain’s suggestion on Thursday that she had told Wilson after the Bondi incident: “Amanda asked me to have a bath and a shower with her and it made me feel uncomfortable.”
“I never said those words. I never made a complaint to Ms Wilson,” she said.
She agreed she had said something like it was “strange” or “bizarre”.
Career opportunities
MacInnes was questioned at length by Sibtain about the circumstances in which she got a record deal with Atlantic Records and a lead role in the stage production Gatsby: An American Myth, co-produced by Ghost.
Sibtain put to MacInnes that Ghost had provided her with “quite a lot of help … to get through the audition process” for Gatsby.
“I agree that it was a lot of help,” MacInnes said, after Justice Elizabeth Raper asked her to answer the question directly.
Sibtain took MacInnes to information Ghost sent MacInnes that was described as “super confidential”: the audition tape of an actor who didn’t get the role.
“She was encouraging you to be more dramatic,” Sibtain said.
“Yes,” MacInnes said.
She agreed that, in another message, Ghost was encouraging her to audition for the role even though she would be up against the world’s best performers.
The trial continues.
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