Judge Elizabeth Raper found MacInnes had altered her account of an incident involving a producer
Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has prevailed in a defamation fight against actor Charlotte MacInnes that made it to Federal Court, reported The Australian.
On Wednesday 22 July, following a two-week trial in Sydney, judge Elizabeth Raper dismissed MacInnes’ case claiming that Wilson had made defamatory social media posts about her. The judge found that not only were Wilson’s posts not defamatory, MacInnes had altered her account of an incident involving film producer Amanda Ghost.
With MacInnes’ defamation allegation quashed, Raper said there was no need to consider any damage to the actor’s reputation. The judge ordered MacInnes to cover Wilson’s legal costs.
MacInnes’ legal team, which is being helmed by Sue Chrysanthou SC, told The Australian that the actor would appeal the ruling.
MacInnes had been Wilson’s lead actor in the movie The Deb, which was the latter’s first foray into directing. MacInnes filed a defamation complaint in August 2025 alleging that Wilson claimed MacInnes withdrew a complaint about receiving unwanted sexual advances from a producer in exchange for a new role in another project and a significant record deal.
In September 2024 and May 2025, Wilson had reportedly posted on social media about how MacInnes had told her of being uncomfortable with Ghost’s advances, and after Wilson reported the matter, MacInnes denied the incident. Giles / George Lawyers, which represented MacInnes, proceeded to issue a concerns notice to Wilson.
MacInnes had released statements in September 2023 and 2024 saying that she would not “be the subject of a fabricated narrative”, per a snippet published by The Australian. Her suit against Wilson sought damages, including aggravated damages due to Wilson naming her in public “as an alleged victim of sexual harassment, without her consent, and then accusing her of lying about it as justification for identifying her”.
Wilson allegedly had a public relations firm launch takedown websites about MacInnes and Ghost. She was also accused of hacking MacInnes’ Snapchat account and leaking a nude photograph of MacInnes. Wilson denied both claims.
While Wilson conceded that she had authored some of the social media posts, she maintained that they were not defamatory. She described bullying claims from MacInnes or Ghost as “nonsense” at the trial.
In her ruling, Raper determined that if necessary, Wilson could prove “substantially true” that MacInnes had withdrawn her sexual harassment complaint. Wilson thanked the judge and the Australian legal system in an Instagram post made after the decision was released.
In July 2025, The Deb’s producers – Ghost, Vince Holden and Gregor Cameron – also filed a suit alleging that Wilson falsely accused them of “inappropriate conduct” towards MacInnes and of embezzling the movie’s budget. Wilson also reportedly told The Deb’s Australian distributor Kismet that she would get an injunction to stop the film’s release in theatres.
The Deb debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2024. It came out in Australian theatres in April and is set to premiere in the US next month.
